Women’s Libraries

Women’s History Month is a good time to look at some of the places that maintain women’s history.

It’s easy to be deceived into thinking that women have arrived when we spend a lot of time in the lands of libraries and youth literature because we seem to be everywhere. But, outside this space, women in war torn Congo, Somalia, Gaza, Ukraine, and Iran live in terror along with those who face predators like Epstein, Chavez, and Cosby. Women continue to be so poorly regarded that real progress continues to be elusive. Too many women and girls live with no safety or protection for their bodies. It’s hard to consider political and social gains when such a basic right – the right to say NO – is denied to so many. But I think we have to claim the victories when we can. Our joy reminds us of our humanity. So, we again turn to libraries and literature.

Women are often leaders in protecting voices and safeguarding others’ liberties. When we speak out, particularly regarding taboo subject matters, women will often find themselves risking their careers, positions in society, and financial viability. The Strand Bookstore crowned a few women authors who dared use their voices to protect liberties by honoring them as the Badass B*tches of Banned Books.

Esraa Al-Ar’eer, from Gaza City works to preserve stories. She describes life in what remains of her city by telling us, “Every day we lost something close—a home, a neighbor, a street, a dream. But what we did not lose was the voice. Women’s voices were like a thin thread guiding us back to our humanity when the war tried to rip it away.”

I love that Nora O’Donnell and Kate Anderson Brower point out that the US Declaration of Independence was first published by Mary Catherine Goddard, reminding us of the hidden ways woman have contributed to this county. We’ve always been there.

Why does it seem women are the ones to protect our humanity, but so few do the work to protect women?

I thought I’d point out some of the libraries around the world that collect, preserve, and present information products that contain women’s history. These are spaces that uplift creativity, leadership, and the quotidian successes of women.

It can be so easy to look at this impressive list of libraries and forget that for hundreds of years, women in most cultures had no access to create any kind of artwork, and if they did, they often weren’t credited for it. Our foremothers were considered less than men ,and unworthy of participating in demanding financial or political endeavors, as if giving birth or nurturing a family are tasks for the weak. It’s too easy to forget this history, and to ignore – even now – how women continue to be disempowered.

So, in seeing these libraries focused on informational products created for and/or by women, we have to be impressed. As a woman, I feel honored. And, I feel the need to keep doing the work to honor other women because there are too many who try to diminish us.

These institutions remain vibrant by providing mental health support, hosting knitting groups, writing circles, and art exhibits. Some have developed podcasts, zines, original art, gardens, and research projects.

If you can’t make it to Italy or to France, visit some of these women’s libraries online.

Atria
Located in Amsterdam, Atria is an independent knowledge institute that provides expertise to support researchers, policymakers and social partners, and contributes reliable knowledge to the social debate on gender equality. Atria’s collection consists of a large assortment of different types of sources, including archives, books, articles and magazines, photographs, objects, moving images and sound recordings, sheet music and personal documents.

Biblioteca delle Donne
This library is the second-most important women’s documentation center in Europe (the first one being Atria) and houses texts dedicated to women, feminism, and gender studies. It was founded in the late 1970s as part of an initiative by an independent feminist organization, Associazone Orlando, and is co-run with the City of Bologna.
Womn.it Is part of the Biblioteca delle Donne (Italian Women’s Library). This is a virtual political, cultural and feminist space born from a collective vision: from the physical rooms of the Initiative Center to the networks of the digital ecosystem. The space remains a living knot for memory, research and feminist activation.
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Bibioteca Francesa Bonnemaison
Founded in 1909, This library in Barcelona, Spain holds the distinction of being the first ever women’s library in Europe. The institute is home to a reference library of feminist literature, as well as collections dedicated to food, fashion, and the Ciutat Vella area of Barcelona in which the library is located.

The Bibliothèque Marguerite Durand
Located in Paris, this is the only public library in France dedicated entirely to women. It was created from the personal collection of Marguerite Durand, an activist best known for founding feminist newspaper La Fronde. She started collecting feminist texts in 1897 and donated them all to the City of Paris in 1931.

Capetown Women’s Library
A library where women can come not only to read but to hold small workshops, book launches, poetry readings or meetings. “To take the concept of sharing stories, spoken or in print, into other communities around Cape Town, South Africa. We call it “sistering”, a female form of “partnering”. The library delivers book reviews, podcasts, publications (Being a Woman in Capetown; Women of Soil Changing Lives) and projects (The Everywoman Project; Knit and Natter; Story Café; Walks, Wire Woman, Artscape Action)

The Free Black Women’s Library
The Free Black Women’s Library is a social art project that features a collection of over 5,000 books written by Black women and Black non-binary writers. It sponsors a free store, a period pantry, a virtual Reading Club, a weekly book swap, and a wide array of workshops and free public programs. It features traveling installations of over 2,000 books, magazines, and other material written by Black women. Founded in 2015 by OlaRonke Akinmowo in BedStuy, the library has grown to additional locations around New York City, as well as in Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Baltimore.

Glasgow Women’s Library
This is a lending library, which specializes in hard-to-find feminist tomes and archives, including one of the UK’s most significant LGBT historical collections. The Glasgow Women’s Library is also the UK’s only accredited museum dedicated entirely to women’s history. It focuses heavily on the feminist history of Scotland.

Jessie Street National Women’s Library
This special library is a unique space dedicated to the preservation of Australian women’s work, words, and history. The library was established in 1989 and is named after Jessie Street, a lifelong campaigner for women’s rights, the peace movement and the elimination of discrimination against Aboriginal people.
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The National First Ladies Library & Museum at the First Ladies National Historic Site
In 1995 Mary Regula assembled a team to raise funds to collect and maintain records of every First Lady from Martha Washington to the present. In 1998, her work evolved into the National First Ladies Library in Canton Ohio as a repository to make all the information publicly available in a physical library consisting of hundreds of books and articles as well as a robust research web site detailing the full lives of these remarkable women. In 2000, President Bill Clinton signed a bill creating the First Ladies National Historic Site, a unit of the National Park Service.

Nottingham Women’s Library
Estblished in 1971, the collection hosts a wide range of books, magazines, and articles by female authors, including rare feminist literature from the 70s & 80s. The library supports all self-identifying women looking for mental health support; seeking asylum; facing poverty; escaping abuse; and pursuing a change in their lives. The Centre also provides a safe, warm and friendly environment for women to use on a day-to-day basis.
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I hadn’t even finished this post when I received a letter promoting the Smithsonian’s American Women’s History Museum. Currently existing in a digital space, this dynamic museum expands the story of America through the often-untold accounts and accomplishments of women—individually and collectively—to better understand our past and inspire our future. The site contains exhibits, resources, and ways to volunteer. And, they’re just getting started!
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The Women’s Library
The Women’s Library in London was founded in 1926 as a project by the London Society for Women’s Suffrage to document the history and legacy of the women’s movement and to provide a place for liberated women to gather and discuss feminist issues. It is one of the most extensive collections of women’s literature in the world, including UNESCO-recognized documents, rare books, and objects such as original suffrage banners. It moved to the London School of Economics in 2013.

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Filed under: Libraries & Schools, Museums &Exhibits