Kate Sharpley Library
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The '''Kate Sharpley Library''' (or '''KSL''') is a [[library]] dedicated to [[anarchism|anarchist]] texts and [[history]]. Started in 1979 and reorganized in 1991, it currently holds around ten thousand [[English language]] volumes, pamphlets and periodicals. The library has texts in English and other languages, near complete collections of several anarchist [[newspaper]]s, and collections of reports and literature from various anarchist [[organisation]]s. The library is maintained by donations and money made from sales of pamphlets and other publications.
==Kate Sharpley==
{{Main|Kate Sharpley}}
The Kate Sharpley Library was named after a Deptford-born [[World War I]] anarchist and anti-war [[activist]]. She worked in a munitions factory and was active in the [[shop stewards movement]]. Her father and brother were killed in action and her boyfriend was listed as missing believed killed (though she suspected he had been shot for mutiny). At the age of 22, when called to receive her family's medals from [[Mary of Teck|Queen Mary]] (wife of [[George V of the United Kingdom|George V]]) she threw the medals back at her Queen, saying "if you like them so much you can have them". The Queen's face was scratched, Kate Sharpley was beaten by [[police]], and imprisoned for a few days, though no charges were brought against her. She married in 1922 and dropped out of anarchist activities until a chance encounter with [[Albert Meltzer]] at a train station during an anti-[[fascist]] action. This led to her meeting many younger activists and so, when [[Brixton]] anarchists came to name the archives they had collected from the movement, her name was chosen in preference to a more famous one.
==Publications==
As well as preserving the physical artifacts of anarchist history, the library also publishes [[books]] and [[pamphlets]] on [[anarchism]] and [[history of anarchism|anarchist history]], covering many subjects that would otherwise be forgotten. Its activities are recounted in its regular Bulletin, available online and by mail to its financial supporters.
Authors it has published or re-published include [[Miguel García (anarchist)|Miguel Garcia]], [[Albert Meltzer]], [[David Nicholl]], [[Abel Paz]], [[Antonio Téllez]], and [[Bartolomeo Vanzetti]].
==References==
*{{cite book | last=Meltzer| first=Albert | authorlink=Albert Meltzer | title= I Couldn't Paint Golden Angels| origyear=1996 | edition=1 | publisher=[[AK Press]] | location=Edinburgh | language= | id=ISBN 1-873176-93-7 | pages=291-2 | chapter=chapter 20}}
==External links==
*[http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net The Kate Sharpley Library homepage]
*[http://sfbookfair.wordpress.com/2007/03/22/barry-pateman-interview/ Video interview with Barry Pateman], of the Kate Sharpley Library. (2007)
*[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.serrev.2007.02.003 An Interview with Three Members of the Kate Sharpley Library]
{{Anarchism2}}
[[Category:Anarchist organizations of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Anarchist organizations of the United States]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1979]]
[[eo:Biblioteko Kate Sharpley]]