Marx Memorial Library
The Marx Memorial Library & Workers' School was founded in 1933 with the aim of advancing education, knowledge and learning in all aspects of the science of Marxism, the history of Socialism and the working class movement.
At the heart of the British Labour Movement for over eighty years, the Library is home to a unique collection of published and archival sources on related subjects including the trade unionism, peace and solidarity movements and the Spanish Civil War.
The Library’s education programme – online and onsite – examines subjects ranging from Marxist political economy to socialist art. The Library itself is a historic building rooted in Clerkenwell’s radical tradition. We are a charity, financed by members and affiliates.
Leadership
Marx Memorial Library October 3 2018.
John McDonnell – Shadow Chancellor and Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington was yesterday (Tuesday) elected Vice President of the Marx Memorial Library (MML).
He takes over the position following the death of former trade union leader Rodney Bickerstaffe last year. He joins top British actor Maxine Peake who is also one of the Vice Presidents of MML.
Following his election, Mr McDonnell delivered a lecture on the Economic Policy of the Labour Party to a packed lecture theatre at the Library. After the meeting, chaired by Islington Councillor and MML trustee Claudia Webbe, Mr McDonnell addressed a crowd outside the venue, unable to be seated inside.
Reacting to his new position, Mr McDonnell said he was ‘honoured’ to become Vice President and concluded his lecture with ’we are now a mass movement again… this is one of the most exciting periods for the socialist movement that we’ve had in this country since the end of the Second World War’.
Meirian Jump, Archivist & Library Manager of the MML said: ‘We are delighted John – someone with such strong labour movement credentials – has become a VP today. With growing interest in socialism and the history of the labour movement, we think he will be a great ambassador for our vital work.’
- Marx Memorial Library Trustees 2020.
- Harsev Bains
- Mary Davis
- Ann Field
- John Foster
- Alexander Gordon
- John Hendy
- Marjorie Mayo
- Bruni De La Motte
- James Mowatt
- Jane Rosen
- Claudia Webbe
- Jonathan White
- Richard Clarke[1]
New Trustees 2020:
Patrons of the Marx Memorial Library
The MML is incredibly grateful for the generosity of the following patrons who support our on-going work and development:
- Eddie Adams
- Dyal Bagri
- Michael Bailey
- Harsev Bains
- Pauline Bryan
- Tony Burke
- Shami Chakrabarti
- Christine Child
- Ann Field
- Helen Field
- Alex Gordon
- David Grove
- Lord John Hendy
- Rachel Holmes
- Michael Howells
- Edward Keith Jerrome
- Chris Kaufman
- David Kennedy
- Sean Kettle
- David Lane
- Rob Machin
- Emil Maschner
- Stewart McGill
- Greg Michaelson
- John Millington
- Tommy Moorhouse
- Manuel Moreno
- Hank Roberts & Jean Roberts
- Claire Weiss & Len Weiss
- Penny Welch
- Barry White
New names had been added by September 1, 2022.
- Kevin Acott
- Bill Bowring
- Mark Daniel
- John Deighan
- Michael Ironside
- Caroline Michie
- Susan Michie
- Alan Tait
- Athanasios Velios
- Dave Wetzel[2]
History/leadership
Alex Gordon was glowing with pride as he showed visitors a huge portrait of Karl Marx, Lenin's office during exile and precious collections, including the New York Tribune articles that Marx wrote to supplement his income and the full run of the Daily Worker and Morning Star.
The 51-year-old chair of the Marx Memorial Library could barely hide his excitement -- the two-story whitish building located in the heart of London has in recent years witnessed an increasing number of visitors and memberships, especially of young people.
"We have increasing applications from school students to borrow books for research due to a lack of academic courses in British schools about Marxism," Gordon told Xinhua.
Apparently, Gordon felt his role in the Marx Memorial Library could in a way help change the world. In 2012, Gordon was elected chair of the library board and since then he has worked at the library for up to three days each week as a volunteer.
Established in 1933 on the 50th anniversary of the death of Marx, the Marx Memorial Library has been the intellectual home of generations of scholars interested in studying Marxism, trade unionism, and the working class movement.
With its vast collections of books, posters, photos and pamphlets from across Britain, the library's collection even outdoes that of the British Library, offering a unique place for members and visitors to fill "the vacuum of knowledge," Gordon said.
The library, also called the Marx Memorial Library and Workers' School, holds regular lectures and classes to explain the capital crisis, the Labor movement and Marxist ideas.
The lectures offered by the library have proved popular, with people sometimes even queuing up in the streets, said Mary Davis, a board member of the library.
"People want an explanation for the capital crisis," said Davis, also a visiting professor of labor history from Royal Holloway, University of London. "People, and especially young people, are looking to Marx."
The ruling Conservative Party led by British Prime Minster Theresa May unexpectedly lost its majority in the 2017 general election due to its cuts in health, education, welfare and local government. Meanwhile, the main opposition Labor Party, pledging "For the many, not the few," seems to have gained wider popularity. In its 2017 Labor manifesto, the party offered a wide-ranging socialist program, including increasing taxes on the wealthy and nationalizing the railways, postal services and utilities.
"That showed up that there was a possibility of an alternative," said Davis. "People begin to think that's a real choice and something which is new and developing."
To cater to the rising demand from visitors and thousands of its members, the library is planning a major expansion to allow more teaching space.
More importantly, the library is looking into digital technology, including audio and video technologies, to adapt to the need of young people. Major documents are also being digitalized to make them more accessible through the Internet.
"For us, the task for the next few years is to ensure the ideas which this building was established to defend are available using digital technology, to an entire new generation that are used to using smart phones and computers rather than simply leafing through dusty books," said Gordon.[3]
Engagement with China
Meanwhile, the library is also seeking more engagement with China, the world's second-largest economy, to explore the development of Marxist theories, says Alex Gordon.
The Chinese are among the largest foreign visiting groups to the library, he said, adding that professors from the Chinese Academy of Sciences are coming to visit on the 200th anniversary of Marx's birth on May 5.
Gordon also highlighted the special link between the library and China, while holding a bilingual honorary doctorate degree certificate of Kangda University Yen-an signed by Mao Zedong, who was chairman of the educational committee during the anti-Japanese war, to leading British Communist writer James Klugmann, one of the founders of the library.
"One of the things that we are very determined to do is to have a better dialogue with Chinese Marxists," he said.[4]