Working Class Movement Library
Working Class Movement Library | |
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53°29′03″N 2°16′23″W / 53.48417°N 2.27306°W | |
Location | England |
Scope | Working class |
Established | 1950s |
Other information | |
Website | www.wcml.org.uk |
Part of a series on |
Socialism in the United Kingdom |
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The Working Class Movement Library (WCML) is a collection of English language books, periodicals, pamphlets, archives and artefacts, relating to the development of the political and cultural institutions of the working class created by the
History
In 1953, two bibliophiles, Eddie (Edmund) Frow and Ruth Haines, met at a Communist Party Summer School. In 1956, they set up home together and the merger of their book collections was the beginning of the Working Class Movement Library. They spent their spare time and money travelling around Britain, gathering new items for the collection. By 1960, the collection was being consulted by historians and academics, and they had attracted the support of other collectors of labour movement material. In 1964, they gained charitable trust status.[1]
By the mid 1980s, the collection had filled their semi in Trafford. Salford City Council agreed to support the library and, in 1987, gave the WCML, and the Frows, a new home in a former nurses' home, Jubilee House, situated near the University of Salford. Designed and constructed in 1897 by Henry Lord (who also built the Peel Building opposite) it was built to celebrate Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee.
In 2007, the relationship changed when the trust took full responsibility for the housing and staffing of the collection with the council providing a lease of the building and an annual financial grant. The WCML is otherwise funded by trade union and individual subscription.
Collection
The focus of the collection is the history of the political, industrial, social and cultural institutions of the working classes which were created by the Industrial Revolution.
The three main parts are the
The library has substantial and historically significant holdings on
The collection includes diverse cultural material including poetry, novels, prints, playscripts, songbooks and audio-visual material.
Since 1985, the WCML has been the official archive of the GMB union. It also has a large collection of material from the engineering and the various textile unions, especially the North west regional branches. It also holds varying amounts of material from dozens of other trade unions, old and new.
As well as holding local and national material from the mainstream UK co-operative movement, the WCML also holds archival material from local branches of the
The main political parties represented are the