Glasgow Women's Library

Our Board of Directors furthers the work of Glasgow Women’s Library by playing an active part in strategy development and the meeting of the organisation’s mission and aims.

The current Board are:

Susan Pettie

Susan is a Glasgow native, new to “women’s issues”, and is looking at Glasgow Women’s Library from a social entrepreneurship point of view. She has studied film, worked in media, and is now starting a social change business. She is driven by an interest in sustainable development and celebrating the diversity of perspective found among people the world over. She’s eager to see women and men working to their strengths in partnership and collaboration for the good of all.

Sue Rawcliffe

A social worker by profession, Sue has worked in and around voluntary and community organisations for the last 25 years in London and Glasgow. This has been in a range of roles in relation to training, learning and development from generic community development worker to member of senior management teams at Richmond Fellowship Scotland, Scottish Human Services and GCVS. Sue is currently working as a National Development Officer for Community Food and Health (Scotland) with a particular focus on work that builds inclusion.

Along the way Sue she has learned a lot about developing and managing organisations and facilitating change for groups and individuals – practical experience which has been backed up by completing her MBA and becoming a Chartered member of the CIPD. She is also very interested in how organisations become sustainable, reduce their dependence on grant funding and stay true to their values.

A committed feminist, Sue has known the Women’s Library since she first came to Glasgow in 1990. She joined the Board in 2008 to contribute to the next exciting stags in the library’s development.

Ashley Lennon

Ashley trained and worked a journalist, before moving into public relations. As an Account Director at one of Scotland’s largest PR agencies she handled media relations for a range of public, private and voluntary sector clients. She is currently Communications Manager for national not-for-profit organisation, Momentum. With experience in designing communications strategies as well as public relations and marketing, Ashley is looking forward to using her skills to help Glasgow Women’s Library to raise its profile as it moves into the next exciting stage of its development.

Ashley is also a graduate of the prestigious M Phil in Creative Writing at Glasgow University. She writes fiction, teaches Creative Writing and is passionate about the role that literature and lifelong learning can play in helping people to transform their lives.

Shona Craven

Shona has had a varied career working in the Scottish print and online media, most recently as a news sub-editor for The Herald. She has worked as a content editor, opinion columnist and theatre critic, and established the independent website OnstageScotland in 2006 to encourage broader debate about the arts. A strong believer in the importance of lifelong learning, she is currently studying for an MA in Politics and Public Policy at the University of Glasgow, and is particularly interested in social research relating to families and children.

Shona joined the board of GWL with the aim of bringing the organisation to the attention of a wider section of the public, especially those who may have misconceptions about the library’s wide-ranging work, or negative perceptions of “women’s organisations”. In the long term she is particularly keen to encourage younger women to engage with the collection – particularly those who bristle at any mention of feminism or gender politics and believe that women’s history is not relevant to their 21st-century lives. She looks forward to a time in the near future when GWL has fully accessible, welcoming premises suitable for housing the entire collection as well as hosting inspiring events. She is thrilled that the national significance of the library’s collection is increasingly being recognised, along with the vital contribution made by the extraordinary day-to-day work of the staff, and hopes GWL will continue to develop a UK-wide reputation for excellence.

Zoe Strachan

Zoe writes: “I’m the author of three novels: Ever Fallen in Love (due to be published in July 2011), Spin Cycle and Negative Space. I also write short stories, essays, journalism and various pieces for radio. Recently I’ve been working on drama, writing plays for Oran Mor and the Citizen’s Theatre/Glasgay, as well as libretti for Scottish Opera. As I’m lucky enough to travel quite frequently through my work, I hope to find opportunities to represent Glasgow Women’s Library internationally. I have a strong commitment to education and have taught creative writing in many different contexts. Through my job as a part time tutor on the prestigious Creative Writing programme at the University of Glasgow, I helped to organise the ‘Women Writers Unite’ series of events at GWL. As a reader, writer and researcher I have a passion for libraries, and I also have experience in museum work – both in terms of designing and delivering education programmes and producing interpretation materials – so I’m keen to be involved in GWL’s continuing accreditation in this field. Most of all though, I’m excited to be joining the GWL Board at a time when we’re developing and expanding at such a pace. We have a wonderful resource in both our collections and the people with whom we work; our members, volunteers, staff and friends. I believe we can look forward to increasing recognition for our investment in women’s creative and cultural capital at local, national and international level. The future is very bright for Glasgow Women’s Library!”