Library love at the heart of the Feminist Book Club in Glasgow

Category: Blog

by Stefanie McCartney

I’d like to share how the library has helped grow my love of reading and connection with feminists in Glasgow, and help in sharing how much libraries can be a part of their lives.

This year marks a decade since I started working in libraries in a role that supported the health and wellbeing of people coming to our buildings and using the library’s services for a specific reason. And by “our” buildings, I mean everyone: the library buildings for those of us that work here, for those of us that live in the city and for those of us who visit temporarily.

The Feminist Book Club in Glasgow that I’ve run for the last 5 years was set up with my colleague so our shared interests could come together outwith our 9-5 roles. We met in the libraries on our very first day. Our roles were to support people who had been affected by cancer and use health booklets, resources, books, listening ears and quieter spaces to help people navigate a horrible time in their life. I think many of the skills and knowledge built by myself in this role have been transferred to running the book club and chatting with people who join us there, particularly when we’re chatting about books whose themes can be tricky to discuss or emotionally impactful.

An opportunity came up for me to move into the library’s development team at the beginning of last year, and so with the book club growing and needing to adapt it felt like a great opportunity to learn more to develop it further whilst supporting further reading and writing opportunities in the libraries in the city.

Meeting in the library, using library stock, and encouraging book borrowing from the library have all encouraged the group to consistently meet up and continue each month, without cancellation. We saw more people joining during lockdown, looking for a space to connect when there were so few opportunities.

The club meets around tables and chairs in an open area of the library, meaning it can grow and shrink depending on the size of the group each night. The night feels special with 50 people (yes! 50 people came on a cold January night) or 8 of us. The space is free, and the library is open until 8pm. A gem of a thing!

Joining up with local writers, authors, feminist city planning councillors, artists, and more has been beneficial for so many of us: bringing their love of libraries to connect to readers, and potential future readers and collaborators to plan more, think more, educate more, and play more. Theming and linking to feminist issues and events that affect us citywide, nationwide, and worldwide has helped to create a sense of action and hope within a trusted community.

We have the amazing advantage of linking up with the librarians that nurture the special collections within the Mitchell Library, and who can highlight how words from the past weave into the words we read today, and hopefully help spark more within us to come. I’m especially looking forward to reading and showcasing more of Catherine Carswell this year as we celebrate everything Glasgow in its 850th year, and loving our libraries even more than we usually do!

This year especially, working in reader development has helped me to work towards my CILIP Professional Registration. I have never excelled at being assessed in any setting throughout school, university etc., but being able to provide supporting evidence of the work I’ve honed throughout the last decade has helped take the fear out of the process. I work best with people – connecting and learning from everyone through books, reading and words – I’m excited to highlight this more with the support of CILIPS.