Zine on picture: The Borough is my Library. A Greater Metropolitan Library Workers Zine. Edited by Alicia Sellie Dec 2009. Viewed at ABC No Rio Zine Library in New York Oct 2018.
Picture by Eva Olthof 2018

The Democratic Library

democratic recruitment

democratic programming

shallow hierarchie

platte organisatie

the library is never neutral

'adhocratie'

awareness of inequality

everyone a learner

as an activist practice

mode of access

awareness of power structures

the community owns the record

inclusion

cultural ownership

community ownership

daily diplomacy

challenging gender stereotyping

Bread and Roses

mindmap

research

Een aantal onderzoeksvragen:

- Wat betekent het als mensen zelf een bieb of biebvorm beginnen? Wat zijn de beweegredenen van de
initiatiefnemers?

- Worden deze plekken, die democratische waarden nastreven, ook (gedeeltelijk) democratisch gerund?
Hoe ziet dat er in de praktijk uit? Welke vormen van inspraak zijn er? Is er een hiërarchie of juist niet?

- Wat drijft de vrijwilligers? Hoe zijn zij gekomen tot de keuze voor de plek waar ze actief zijn? Hoe vinden zij tijd voor het doen van onbetaald werk? Wat voor een gevoel krijgen ze bij het doen van vrijwilligerswerk?

- Wat is de ‘machtsbalans’ tussen de mensen die betaald in dienst zijn en de vrijwilligers?

- Met welke artistieke vormen kan ik mijn eigen ervaring en die van anderen vrijwilligers het beste vangen?
Welke artistieke vormen zijn inclusief en democratisch te noemen? Hoe kunnen we samen nieuwe beelden of vormen van documentatie van onze ervaring uitproberen? Bijvoorbeeld samen een ‘vrijwilligerszine’ maken.

volunteering

volunteering as

circular economy

communial ownership

ongoing

(institutional) transparency

lived experience recognised

support

seeing yourself reflected in institution on all levels

The Holistic Museum

equality

social justice

self-reflexive

discursive

dynamic

internal and external dialogue on workings of organisational values and purpose

"(...) charactartistics of feminist intersectional working: dialogistic, empathetic, brave, open, values focussed, collaborative and inclusive, innovative and organically developing coaching culture."

Patrick, A. (2018/2019) ‘Feminist Leadership: how naming and claiming the F word can lead the
cultural sector out of equalities ‘stuckness’.’ Provocation Paper, Clore Leadership Fellowship.
Glasgow, Glasgow Women’s Library.

defined and explicit statement

feminist led organisation

Bibliography (in process)

Patrick, A. (2018/2019) ‘Feminist Leadership: how naming and claiming the F word can lead the
cultural sector out of equalities ‘stuckness’.’ Provocation Paper, Clore Leadership Fellowship.
Glasgow, Glasgow Women’s Library.

Thain-Gray, R. ed. (2019) Decoding Inequality: Analysing Narratives of Inequality in Objects.
Glasgow, Glasgow Women’s Library.

Thain-Gray, R. and Patrick, A. eds. (2018) Research from a grassroots museum. Glasgow, Glasgow
Women’s Library.

Specht, M. van der Zwaard, J. (2015) De uitvinding van de Leeszaal. Amsterdam: trancity*valiz.

Solnit, R. (2021) Orwell's Roses. New York: Granta

Mende, D. (2015) The Long Loan. Return to Rightful Owner pp 50-55. Eindhoven: Onomatopee.

radically welcoming

shared perception of ownership

to be a truely democratic library does a library need to be feminist led? 

increasingly systematised

'people make it wat they want it to be'

feminist leadership

feminist working

shared leadership

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challenging consumerism

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co-operative model of governance

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documenting, preserving under represented histories

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inbedded in neighbourhood

proximity

emerging questions:

what are the similarities between co-operative led and feminist led organisations? What are the differences?

membership as

mode of access

strength of weak ties

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informeel en open

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language friendly place

How does an entirely voluntary led organisation differ form a mixed voluntary and paid organisation? 

A number of research questions:

- What does it mean when people start their own library or library form? What are the reasons of the initiators?

- Are these places, which strive for democratic values, also (partially) democratically run?
What does that look like in practice? What forms of participation are there? Is there a hierarchy or not?

- What drives the involved volunteers? How did they choose the place where they are active? How do they find time to do unpaid work? How do they feel about volunteering?

- What is the 'balance of power' between the people who are employed and the volunteers?

- With which artistic forms can I best capture my own experience and that of other volunteers?
Which artistic forms can be called inclusive and democratic? How can we try new images or forms of documentation of our experience together? For example, making a 'volunteer zine' together.

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values focussed

Freeman, J. (1970) 'The Tyranny of Structurelessness'

Steyerl, H. 'In defence of the poor image'. In: Hito Steyerl
The Wretched of the Screen. (Berlin: Sternberg Press 2012) pp. 31-45

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gratis free of charge

free access to Internet

free or affordable access to cultural activities

pay what you can

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