Sunday 6 May 2012

A Trip to the Library

Staying in the UK, a recent decision by the London Metropolitan University to dispose of two of it`s special collections has proved controversial.

The collections concerned are the Women`s Library and the Trade Union Congress Library. The university has said it is looking for a new home, a new owner or a new sponsor for these.

Cynics have suggested that this because the LMU has been caught `upgrading` figures on the number of students it has in order to get more state funding. I myself had no idea that was the case and couldn`t possibly comment !

A lively campaign is underway in respect of the Women`s Library, which houses everything from early suffragette memorabilia to the archive of the National Women`s Register. For details, see my article Save the Women`s Library , posted earlier today at http://angpav.blogspot.com

At present there does not seem to be an equivalent campaign in respect of the TUC collection. However, these sites may be of interest ;

www.londonmet.ac.uk/libraries/tuc

www.unionhistory.info

www.londonmetunison.org.uk

Hopefully new homes and/or new sources of funding will be forthcoming for these unusual collections. As I`ve said elsewhere, it`s worth remebering that documents and artefacts aren`t the only assets these collections have, there`s also the expertise of the staff that maintain them and their familiarity with the stock.









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