About

Glasgow Women’s Library is the only Accredited Museum in the UK dedicated to women’s lives, histories and achievements, with a lending library, archive collections and innovative programmes of public events & learning opportunities.

With items that date from the early nineteenth century to the present day, our collections champion, celebrate and teach us about how women have shaped lives, families, communities and the country. Every book, object and archive item has been donated, making the collections unique and personally shaped by Library users.

Museum

The Museum Collection holds everything from Suffragette memorabilia to contemporary feminist campaigning material; recipe books and knitting patterns to Roller Derby crash helmets; quilts and protest banners.

Archive

The Archive Collection is broadly comprised of three elements: Archives donated to GWL, including the papers and records of organisations and individuals that represent the achievements and activities connected to women and women’s issues; the Lesbian Archive (formerly the LAIC), one of the most significant LGBT Historical collections in the UK with material spanning from the 1920s to the present day; and GWL’s own archives, with records relating to our groundbreaking work with women across Scotland and beyond.

Lending Library

The Lending Library collection contains books on a broad range of subjects relating to women’s lives and experiences, and a wonderful selection of fiction and poetry by women writers.

Search

Each catalogue has it’s own search function, but you can also search the archive and museum catalogues together with our custom Google Seach. Cataloguing of the collections is a work in progress, so results may be incomplete – if in doubt, please contact us!