Our Spring 2025 Programme is now available and you can pick up your copy of the beautiful printed brochure at GWL, take a look on our online events calendar, or download a pdf programme to find out all about events and projects happening this season.
Download a PDF copy of the new programme here.
If you would like to read our large print version, click here.
“Finding community, and building and strengthening relationships, with people you trust and agree with about these moral and political issues is important; it will strengthen you and give you people to act with when it is time to act”. Rebecca Solnit, November 2024
Spring is the season of light, hope and renewal, and for many, a time to make new connections and to act.
In times of adversity and uncertainty, women and other groups who have faced discrimination have built networks of solidarity and connection, organised and challenged abuses of power, whether in the home or in the world. In this programme, we bear witness to such activism and celebrate the power of dissenting voices.
Women have driven peace movements across the world and through time; a necessity when war is ever present. While we look back at aspects of this important history, we cannot ignore ongoing global conflicts and the ways this deeply impacts on women and children, from genocide in Palestine to the ongoing war in Ukraine. Civil wars and political unrest, conflicts caused by climate crisis, colonial land-grabbing, authoritarian regimes and political instability linked to globalisation can be mapped across the world today: in Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Myanmar, Burkino Faso, Iran and Afghanistan, where threats to women’s lives and rights are either hidden from our consciousness (and daily news feeds) or can seem increasingly close to the surface in a volatile world. Our raised awareness is often as a result of the bravery of those who have found ways to communicate. Glasgow Women’s Library is a place where we can learn about the war on women, how women have resisted in the past and are trying to forge new ways to lead in the world, peacefully and in harmony with the planet. Every day at Glasgow Women’s Library, women’s human and gender rights are at the forefront of our consciousness. Although, like many, we sometimes feel helpless in the face of patriarchal power, and are continually learning, we hope that what we do, day in, day out, makes a difference to those who visit us in person or digitally, and with whom we communicate and collaborate.
Our exhibition, For Peace! touches on themes relevant to an increasingly militarised world, the building of international solidarity networks and associated liberation struggles. We also showcase and discuss how such activism and protest materials have been collected, documented and preserved. A series of workshops, Listening In: Feminist Voices from the Middle East and North Africa, focus on key issues, voices and perspectives from within Arab feminism, to expand understanding, challenge stereotypes and address prejudice.
For over twenty years, GWL’s Adult Literacy and Numeracy team has been working with women from all backgrounds and from across Glasgow, supporting them with their reading, writing and numbers. Our exhibition, Keys to my Mind shares our learners’ stories of hope and inspiration, showcasing the variety of ways that we make learning fun, creative and informal.
In addition to the stirring exhibitions and one-off events in this programme, we also have our regular favourites: Story Café, Open Book, the Conversation Café and Women Making It are all tailor made to foster new connections between people; a chance to meet others, listen, share ideas, and be supported to find creative ways to express yourself.
As the days lengthen, and in the year that our great city of Glasgow celebrates its 850th anniversary, we invite you to come outside with us to join one of our Women’s Heritage Walks and learn more about the women that made this city, including those that have found the courage to act.
Please do come to our events, enjoy our space, find strength in community and be part of GWL.
Audio Version
A Warm Welcome – Programme Introduction
Artists and Exhibitions
Get Involved
Women’s Words
Women Make History
Joining, Booking and Travelling Information
