Meirian Jump, director of the Marx Memorial Library

THE director of the Marx Memorial Library has said the building’s collection has “never been more relevant”.

Meirian Jump of the library in Clerkenwell Green said the archive of rare documents and other paraphernalia charting the history of political and economic struggles is an important collection for today.

“Look at the waves of strike action we’ve had in the last year,” she said. “There’s the housing crisis and the cuts to our NHS. There’s all these subjects today that people experience day to day and our archives trace the resistance against all these things and people’s agency through history. I think that’s always going to be relevant.”

She was speaking as the library, founded 90 in 1933, announced it was looking for 15 people to take part in three separate workshops that explore the archive and the history it charts.

As part of its 90th birthday celebrations last year, the library undertook research into how they were perceived by the public.

It discovered that most people either hadn’t heard of them or were unaware of what they could offer, Ms Jump said.

“We know from lots of research we did last year that lots of people in the local area have no idea what is in our building and why we’re here,” she said, “so we want to work with people to open up our archives… all sorts of themes that relate to people’s lives today, such as Women’s Liberation, campaigns against racism, workers’ rights, housing and all sorts of things like that.”

The library’s interior

The workshops, which will be held at the Peel Centre and the Finsbury estate, both in Clerkenwell, as well as at the Marx Library, are due to be held next month. They are expected to examine the library’s archive, which includes 50,000 books and pamphlets as well as photographs, posters, flyers and letters.

The outcome of the community work, which is being funded with a grant from the Association of Independent Museums, will be a touring exhibition that reflects the “people’s history on your doorstep”.

The library was founded 50 years after the death of Karl Marx, known as the father of Communism. In his writings, he emphasised the importance of class struggle in every historical society, and the dangerous instability capitalism created.

The building – and indeed the square it is situated in – share a fascinating history of radicalism.

“It’s been this hub for the distribution of knowledge and information about organising and activism for a very long time,” said Ms Jump, describing how a young Vladimir Lenin, while in exile and before he went on to become Soviet Russia’s founding father, worked at 37a Clerkenwell Green on a Russian revolutionary newspaper which would be smuggled into Russia.

The project in June represented an “exciting pilot” for the library as it prepares for its centenary in 2033, which, Ms Jump said, would include a redevelopment of the building and a new exhibition space.

“We’ll be looking at what stories we can tell through our archives that speak to people who’ve just come across us for the first time.”

• For more information about the project, contact m.jump@marx-memorial-library.org.uk