Glasgow Women’s Library nominated for major award

Category: News

The Story Café at the Women’s Library in Glasgow has been shortlisted for the Libraries Change Lives Award 2017.

The CILIP Libraries Change Lives Award for excellence and innovation in the UK library sector has shortlisted four library services that run successful initiatives around the wellbeing, diversity and inclusion agendas. The shortlisted libraries in Suffolk, Kirklees and Glasgow and the prison library at HMP Norwich are driving integration and social cohesion and improving the health and life chances of individuals in their communities.

The winner will be announced on 12 October during the first ever Libraries Week and will receive a £4,000 investment from CILIP.

Story Café at the Women’s Library in Glasgow is a women-only shared reading group which brings women from different backgrounds together to connect over literature, with a particular emphasis on diversity and equality and awareness of the voices of BME authors. The sessions welcome women from all walks of life and specialise in working with women who are socially excluded, marginalised, vulnerable or ‘hard to reach’ – including refugees and asylum seekers, women living with addictions or mental health problems or exiting the criminal justice system, and those who have experienced abuse, homelessness or poverty. The equalities agenda is central to the aims of Story Café which explores themes around diversity and culture in a safe and supportive space.