Women's Views on News |
| The Feminist Library emergency update Posted: 08 Jun 2016 01:38 PM PDT
As most of you know, the Feminist Library at 5 Westminster Bridge Road, London, is a large collection of Women’s Liberation Movement literature, and has been supporting research, activist and community projects since 1975. In 2015 the Feminist Library celebrated 40 years of archiving and activism. Totally volunteer run, the Library has created and looked after one of the most important collections of feminist material in all of the UK, and provided an inspiring learning and social space for thousands of people. But the Library had to launch an Emergency Fund when its future became uncertain owing to unsustainable rent increases in the building that has been the Library's home for the past 30 years. Nevertheless, it was still a shock when, on 23 December 2015, Southwark Council asked for an immediate increase in rent from £12,000 to £30,000 a year. This dramatic increase initially meant that the Library faced eviction on 1 March 2016 – ironically, the first day of Women's History Month! The Library then launched a wide-scale campaign to fight the Council's decision and to provide the Feminist Library with a new, permanent and secure home to house our unique collection, currently at risk of being lost for ever. The Library has gained international support, and positive and wide media coverage, including from such diverse sources as the Times Literary Supplement, Time Out, and the Irish Post and 16,000 plus signatures to our 'Save the Library' petition. A – successful – 'read in' protest was held, where more than a hundred people gathered to read books outside Southwark Council's budget-setting meeting. The Library has now reached an agreement with the council that will allow it to stay in its current building for a further six months, until 30 October 2016. After this, it will either have pay 'the market rate' or find new premises. So the Library is now actively looking for new premises and needs your support. There are several ways you could help: Join our new Friends Scheme – see below. The Friends Scheme is about creating a community of valued Friends who we could talk to regularly at events, workshops and presentations. Friends will help us not only support our future but will enable us to plan strategically through regular donations to the Library. Buy a ticket to our Summer Benefit. Donate to our emergency fund at feministlibrary.co.uk/emergencyfund and share this appeal as widely as possible. Every penny raised will be put towards securing a new home, and the cost of moving our collection. Donate by text. You can donate up to a maximum of £10 using your phone. Choose an amount between £1 and £10, text “FLIB35” plus amount to 70070 eg to donate £10 text " FLIB35 £10″ to 70070. You can set up making a regular donation through Charity Checkout on our website. Regular donations, even small ones, help us to make future plans. Ask your union branch to make a donation to our fund – we can supply a draft motion. Put on a fundraising or support event. Show support on our social media pages. Tell 5 friends how much the Library means to you. Include a legacy for the Library in your will. Volunteer! Volunteering with us gives you a chance to make an immeasurably valuable contribution, and to meet a like-minded group of people. The Feminist Library is run by a team of dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers with diverse interests, from many backgrounds and of all ages. Volunteering at the Feminist Library offers you a great experience of feminist archiving and activism, experience of working in a feminist organisation, collective working – there are a wide range of roles and ways you can get involved. Any other ideas? Let us know! To donate to our emergency fund click here,  |
| Wanted: fewer white men on school exam list Posted: 08 Jun 2016 06:06 AM PDT
In September 2015 new curriculum changes came into effect in schools in the UK. As the English teachers at The Forest Academy school in East London were choosing texts to teach their students, and noticed a pattern: most of the books on the curriculum are by white men. So they decided to launch a campaign to right this wrong – and set up a petition to be sent to Nicky Morgan, the Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities. The campaigners are calling on the government to ensure women and ethnic minorities are fairly represented on the English curriculum. They looked into the English Literature and Language specifications of the three main exam boards and found that female writers are represented by just 31 per cent of texts across GCSE and A Level reading lists, despite accounting for 51 per cent of the UK’s population. Texts by writers from black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds have also been marginalised, with some A Level and GCSE modules offering only 5 per cent of texts by authors from these backgrounds. They have spoken to the main exam boards about this issue and each has expressed support for assessments reflective of our diverse society. The exam boards also made reference to restrictions created by the subject content requirements issued by the Department for Education which they must follow when structuring courses and picking set texts. This is a real problem as it has led to reading lists unfairly weighted in favour of white, male writers which has in turn muted the voices of an integral part of our society, sending a message to students that these voices and narratives are not as valid. The teachers are calling on the government to ensure there is fairer representation of female and ethnic minorities writers on English Literature and Language GCSE and A Level reading lists, and across all subjects where possible. Every signature makes our voice louder so please show your support and help us ensure future reading lists are more representative of females and ethnic minorities by signing our petition! You can find out more about the campaign on their website at and follow them on Twitter. Please sign and share the petition. Some people say that the reason so many books by white, British men are taught in schools is that there aren't enough texts by female and BAME authors of a high enough quality to include on reading lists. We all know this simply isn't true, and to prove it the campaigners are also putting together a list of alternative texts which could be included on reading lists in the future. If you'd like to get involved, please let them know about your favourite books, poems or plays written by women or BAME authors by tweeting them at @looktoourfuture or emailing.  |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Women's Views on News. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |