Love Libraries – Celebrating and empowering women’s writing and learning

Celebrating women’s lives, history and achievements is the overarching goal of the trailblazing and multi-award-winning Glasgow Women’s Library (GWL).

Open to all, this is a unique and special multi-purpose cultural space – a library, museum, archive, gallery and place of learning. GWL offers everything from books and art exhibitions to literacy classes, author talks, creative workshops and reading groups. GWL, as its signs proudly state, is “no ordinary library”.

Gabrielle MacBeth, the library’s Volunteer Co-ordinator, said:

Everything here is by and about women. That’s striking and impactful for people. Even in schools the focus is still mostly on male writers – we like to focus on more marginalised voices.

People say they feel safe and comfortable here. The library is a space of comfort.

We see a mix of people, and they are not just borrowing books. We also have events, clubs and classes.

Confidence

These groups include teaching English as a second language, run with Glasgow Clyde College, and support for women to improve their literacy and numeracy skills.

Librarian Wendy Kirk said:

Learning is at the heart of everything we do. We want to increase women’s confidence, skills, knowledge and understanding, and nurture their desire to learn more.

We work with women from different backgrounds, cultures, and ages – we’re always proud to say that there’s no typical user of Glasgow Women’s Library. It’s this diversity that makes it such an exciting, inclusive space.

For example, our Adult and Literacy and Numeracy (ALN) project supports women who want to improve their reading and writing skills, from writing a poem to enter a creative writing competition, to referencing essays or filling out forms. Everything the ALN project does is learner-led.

An exhibition highlighting ANL learners’ work is planned for 28 March to 21 June 2025.

One GWL learner said:

When asked to pick three words to describe my experience of ALN learning, I chose ‘inclusive’, ‘inspiring’ and ‘kind’.

[GWL] helped me unwrap lifelong chains and taught me trust, belief and self-worth.

Festival

GWL also runs an annual creative writing competition and showcase, Bold Types, which attracts hundreds of poems and short stories every year.

“We also run the Open the Door literary festival to champion women writers,” Wendy added. “It includes a poetry competition, Calm Slam, and the celebration of three historic writers who we feel deserve to be better known.”

The GWL grew out of the feminist arts organisation, Women in Profile, opening its doors in 1991. It has since grown from the grassroots into an award-winning cultural space that is the UK’s only accredited museum of women’s history.

The organisation operated for almost a decade without funding or paid staff. A move to a permanent building, in Bridgeton, in Glasgow’s east end, came in 2013.

Collections are entirely donated, with more than 20,000 books, 4,000 museum artifacts and over half a million archive items.

GWL’s awards include the Icon Diversity Awards ‘Venue of the Year’ prize in 2016 and the Inspiring City ‘Arts and Culture’ Award 2016. Creative Development Manager Adele Patrick was the 2016 Scotswoman of the Year.

The space was shortlisted for the prestigious Art Fund Museum of the Year prize in 2018.

Sensitive

Throughout the library’s history, it has worked closely with many local, national and international organisations. For example, for the past five years, GWL has worked in partnership with Amina MWRC (Muslim Women’s Resource Centre) to explore coercive control within BAME communities.

Syma Ahmed, BAME Development Worker at GWL, has been instrumental in working with focus groups to creatively respond to this important and sensitive subject.

Syma said:

In Scotland there is no legal definition for in-laws and extended family abuse or honour-based abuse. Due to lack of understanding, many victims are missed by the very systems meant to protect them.

Through our work we adopt a broader understanding of domestic abuse to include in-laws and extended family abuse, and honour-based violence.

The feedback has been shared in a report, available here.

Syma added:

We also hosted seminars and events during 16 days of activism and the national day to remember the victims of honour-based violence, including exhibitions, talks and performances to raise awareness, support victims and end extended family abuse.

We urge all of our sister organisations and mainstream women’s aid services to offer training to staff on in-law abuse. We can help with this.

Learn more about Glasgow Women’s Library and contact the team at womenslibrary.org.uk/