Introducing ‘Select and Collect’ book borrowing

Great news! We’ll be lending books again from 2nd September!

‘Select and Collect’ at GWL

We’re delighted to be able to start lending books again, with our new ‘Select and Collect’ service, which you can start using from Wednesday 2nd September.

Request up to 6 books in advance, and we’ll have them ready for you to pick up.

Please read on to find out everything you need to know!

How to select your books

Have a look at our online catalogue

Browse our online catalogue for ideas – we have a brilliant selection of fiction (including children’s and young adult), poetry, drama and non-fiction.

Explore our Reading Ideas

Explore our Reading Ideas – book reviews and recommendations from our staff, volunteers and borrowers.

Let us choose some books for you

Three books standing on a shelf with a plant. The books are New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby, which has a black cover with a photo of a black woman looking directly at the reader, her hands clasped behind her head; Where the Wild Ladies Are, by Matsuda Aoko, a yellow cover with a dark abstract shape in the top half, and an illustration of the knees of two women in skirts sitting beside each other; Queenie, by Candace Carty-Williams, a deep pink cover with the head of a black woman in profile, her face not visible, and long braids pulled up into a bun.
Some of the books recently recommended by the Readers of Colour group.

If you don’t have access to our online catalogue, or if you’re not sure where to start, we’re more than happy to help!

Tell us the kind of books you like reading, or what you’re interested in – maybe you love crime fiction or sci-fi? Nature or history? We can then select some titles for you.

Or we can make you up a book bundle on one the following themes:

  • Book Picnic recommends – some great reads, hand-picked by GWL staff and volunteers
  • Story Café tried and tested – stories and poems we’ve enjoyed at our weekly read aloud group
  • Book Group favourites – Readers of Colour, Reading Group for Muslim Women and our monthly Book Group are always reading brilliant books, take a peek at some of them.
  • Travel the world by book – let some wonderful international writers take you on a journey…
  • Short reads – need something short and sweet? Then this wee bundle is for you! May include graphic novels, poetry or short stories
  • Mystery bundle – if you’re feeling adventurous, then let us surprise you!

How to request your books

You can request your books by:

  • calling the library on 0141 550 2267
  • emailing us at info@womenslibrary.org.uk – please use ‘Select and Collect’ as the subject of your email.

If you already a have a library card, we’ll ask for your borrower number – this begins with R and can be found on the back of your card.

If you don’t have a library card yet, no problem! We can take your contact details (name, address, phone/mobile number, email address) over the phone or by email, and have your card ready for you when you come to pick up your books.

What happens next

  1. We’ll package up your books, following our new Covid-19 enhanced cleaning and hygiene procedures. If the books you’ve requested aren’t available, we’ll do our best to find alternatives
  2. Your books will be issued to your library card and packaged in a sturdy paper bag. If you’ve recently joined the library, your library card will be put in this bag too.
  3. We’ll telephone or email to let you know your books are ready for you to pick up – please note that it may take a few days for us to get back to you, depending on how many requests we get
  4. When you arrive at the library, GWL staff will be there to give you a warm welcome and show you where to pick up your books

You can find out more about visiting GWL following our re-opening, including Frequently Asked Questions and a video about our Covid-19 safety procedures, in the blog post: Re-opening Glasgow Women’s Library: The Countdown Begins…

Returning your books

You can return your books to us anytime during our opening hours:

Tuesday: 11am-5pm
Wednesday: 11am-5pm
Thursday: 2pm-7pm
Friday: 11am-5pm
Closed: Saturday, Sunday and Monday

We will have boxes available for returned books. All our returned books will be quarantined for 72 hours before they go back on the shelves.

We hope to return to browsing as soon as we can, but in the meantime, we’re so excited to lend books again in a safe (and fun!) way.

We can’t wait to hear from you and start getting your book bundles ready!

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