Library Staff
Although the Library started as a wholly voluntary organisation, it now has a number of full and part-time staff.
The Lifelong Learning Team
Adele Patrick
Adele Patrick is a founder and current Lifelong Learning co-ordinator of Glasgow Women’s Library. She has been involved in women’s and equality projects in Glasgow since the 1980′s. She is committed personally and professionally to the concept of learning throughout life and achieved her own doctorate in 2004.
Syma Ahmed
Syma Ahmed joined the Library in August 2007 as the Development Officer for the Black & Minority Ethnic (BME) women’s project. She is responsible for promoting lifelong learning, arts and creative opportunities for BME women. Syma is keen to celebrate the success and achievements of BME women in Glasgow through capturing and compiling their life stories and preserving them at Glasgow Women’s Library. Syma has worked in the voluntary sector for over 6 years and enjoys developing new projects to support the local community. Her previous job with a unique charity called Ethnic Enable involved supporting disabled people and their carers from minority ethnic backgrounds.
Laura Dolan
Laura joined the Library in August 2007 as the Lifelong Learning Assistant. She is responsible for assisting the Lifelong Learning Coordinator in developing the learning programme and organising events. Laura has worked in the voluntary sector since 1998, mostly with learning organisations so has a keen interest in promoting learning for all. Her last post was with a charity that runs comedy workshops for people with ill health, where she had a key role managing their pilot project, which culminated with a 2 hour comedy show – so is keen to bring even more laughter to the Library.
The National Lifelong Learning Team
Morag Smith
Morag joined the Glasgow Women’s Library as National Lifelong Learning Development Worker in August 2009. Morag Smith studied English Literature at Strathclyde University in Glasgow and then lived in Germany for some years where she worked as a teacher of English as a Foreign Language and then in the travel industry. She returned to Scotland with her family where she had a career change and started to work in Adult Learning and completed a post-graduate certificate in Adult Guidance. Before joining Glasgow Women’s Library, she worked for Renfrewshire Libraries and Adult Literacies Renfrewshire in learning and reader development.
Nisha Ramayya
Nisha joined the Glasgow Women’s Library as Administrative Assistant to the National Lifelong Learning programme in August 2009. “After finishing my degrees in English then Poetry in London, I returned home to Glasgow worried I would never find work that seemed quite right. A few months later, I found a volunteer position at Glasgow Women’s Library. A few months after that, I found a job. Admittedly, National Lifelong Learning Administrative Assistant was not something I had ever heard of, let alone considered! But now I am in a job and environment I love, working towards a cause I believe in, and finding out so many new things every single day – part-time.”
The Adult Literacy & Numeracy Team
Pauline Healy
Pauline is the Acting Adult Literacy and Numeracy Development Worker, and has been an ALN tutor at the Library for two years.
“I enjoy the diversity of the work involved and the icing on the cake for me is working with all the learners. As well as being based in the library, we also have held learning sessions in the Red Road Women’s Centre, The Wayside Day Centre and The Kingsway Health and Wellbeing Centre.”
The Adult Literacy and Numeracy Tutor post is currently vacant.
The Library Collection & Archive Team
Wendy Kirk
Wendy joined Glasgow Women’s Library in October 2005 as our new librarian. She is a graduate of Strathclyde University, where she studied English literature as an undergraduate, and library studies as a postgraduate. One of the main aspects of her post will be looking into sourcing a new library management system, which will allow the library to get its amazing collection of resources classified and catalogued. She will also be looking at ways to develop the library’s collection and at how access to resources can be increased for library users.
Hannah Little
Hannah joined the Glasgow Women’s Library as archivist in August 2009. A graduate of History of Art and English Literature, she worked as an archivist at the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland and at the Glasgow University Archive Services before completing a postgraduate masters in archival management. Hannah is passionate about archives and enjoyed going back to study so much that she decided to undertake a PhD in genealogy, archives and identity at the University of Glasgow, which she completed just before taking up her post. Her new role is to catalogue, manage, and promote the library’s rich and diverse archival collections. Hannah is looking forward to making the first women’s archive in Scotland available to all in the library’s future premises at the Mitchell Library.
Meanwhile, keeping the Library running…
Sue John
Sue John joined Glasgow Women’s Library as a volunteer in 1993 having graduated (as a mature student) from Glasgow School of Art with a BA (Hons) degree in Fine Art Printmaking. She became a paid worker in 2000, job sharing the post of Development Worker on the LIPS Project, and since 2005 has been in post as the full-time Strategic Development Manager. Sue’s key responsibilities at GWL include managing the forthcoming relocation to the Mitchell Library and line management of project workers.
Alison Gardiner
Alison came to GWL in September 2003 to teach a ten week T’ai Chi class and somehow never left! Subsequently she worked as a volunteer and then hourly paid admin worker at GWL until September 2005 when she started to job-share with Helen in the post of Admin and Finance Worker.
Helen MacDonald
The other half of the Library’s admin team and the Library’s resident geek.
Other Library Women
Volunteers are very important to the Library and we are keen to encourage women who wish to support the Library in this way to contact us. Find out more about our volunteering programme.
Board of Directors
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.
Contacting Staff
All the Library staff can be contacted via email or at the Library.
