Introduction
The Albert Meltzer collection is a volunteer-run library situated on the top floor of the 1in 12 Club. At the moment very much a work in progress, we hope to have the library fully catalogued and running before too much longer.
The Books
The bulk of the books were
donated to the library by the estate of the late Reuben Goldman. Reflecting
his lifelong passion for learning and literature and his wide range of
interests, the donated collection form the foundation for what we hope
to be a small but comprehensive resource of alternative views of
history and society. Together with the 1 in 12 Club's own collection, the
library is comprised mainly of works on:
- - Communist and Socialist
history and theory.
- - History of British and
American Labour movements.
- - Collections of essays,
letters and other works by many writers, thinkers and figures of influence.
- - History and society
of individual countries
- - History and rational
of Fascism, Anti-Semitism, Racism.
- - Jewish history, culture
and writings.
- - Anarchist writings.
- - A large collection of
poetry, plays and contemporary novels.
The Future
The library is currently run by volunteers, donating their time when they can. Progress has been slow but sure, and we hope to get most of the books catalogued in the comin months. Hopefully there will be reading space and computer catalogue access. We are also considering the possibility of setting up Internet access to the catalogue. At the moment the library operates on a reference only basis, with very limited borrowing facilities, but we will be looking into the practicality of extending this. We always welcome anybody wanting to know more or to get involved in organising or running this library.
Contact
You can ring the club and ask to talk to one of the library volunteers. Although we have no fixed working hours, if you leave your name and contact number we will be happy to get in touch. If you wish to take a look at the collection you should come along on Saturdays from 12 to 3 in the afternoon when the café is open.