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NFLA Secretary Richard Outram was pleased to attend an open day held yesterday (27 August) at the Commonweal Collection www.commonwealnonviolence.org at his alma mater, the University of Bradford, and to make a personal donation of books and DVDs to the collection.
Located on the first floor of the JB Priestley Library at the University of Bradford, Richmond Road, Bradford BD7 1DP, the collection is an independent specialist library of over 12,000 books and pamphlets, 1,000 journals past and present, and a variety of videos and educational materials.
These cover a wide range of issues relating to non-violent social change, including peace and disarmament, peacemakers, environmentalism and the green movement, nonviolent philosophy and practice, human rights, development and regional issues, anti-racism, identity issues, social and economic alternatives, creative education, spiritual experience and analysis of world problems.
Amongst the more notable items is a complete collection of the writings of renowned Indian independence and peace advocate, Mahatma Mohandas Gandhi.
Collection Development Worker Sue Easterbrook is usually working on site on Tuesday and Wednesdays, however the opening hours for the collection are the same as for the JB Priestley Library https://www.bradford.ac.uk/library/contact-and-about-us/opening-hours/.
In addition to operating the library, Commonweal also carries out outreach work and networking with schools, campaign and community groups, and kindred individuals on projects linked to nonviolent social change. Most specifically, Commonweal has a strong partnership with The Peace Museum, which has recently reopened at Salts Mill in Saltaire.
A job vacancy for an Outreach Worker with Commonweal has just been advertised https://www.commonwealnonviolence.org/come-and-work-with-us with a closing date of 11th September. The post is funded by JRCT under their Peace and Security grants programme.
The collection was first established in 1958 by activist David Hoggett, who was committed to Gandhian ideas of non-violence. Despite being paralysed following a terrible accident, David courageously continued to build this valuable resource and operate it as a postal library from his home. Following David’s death in 1975, the Commonweal Trustees relocated the library to the University of Bradford, which had recently opened the first Department of Peace Studies in a British university.
In the basement of the university library can also be found Special Collections, which includes the personal papers of David Hoggett and the Commonweal archives. Access to Special Collections is by appointment only www.bradford.ac.uk/library/special-collections .
Richard said of Commonweal: “I graduated from the University of Bradford Peace Studies Department in August 2021 with a First after four years of intensive study in the UK and Australia.
“I found the Commonweal Collection to be an unsurpassed source of academic works and campaign pamphlets to aid me in study, particularly in connection with my dissertation on non-violent resistance to totalitarianism during the Second World War.
“In relation to my current role, I was pleased to see that the collection includes a significant body of work on nuclear power, weapons and disarmament.
“It is fitting that the collection is located at Bradford University, which has a world-renowned Peace Studies Department, and in a library, named after an incredible Bradfordian author, playwright and peace campaigner. Whilst many people will be aware that Priestley penned ‘The Inspector Calls’, most will be unaware that he was in effect the ‘father’ of the modern British peace movement, being the initiator of efforts to form the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
“By way of thanks for past services rendered, I was pleased to be able to donate some books and DVDs to the collection and look forward to visiting again soon, this time as a borrower.”
Ends//… For more information please contact NFLA Secretary Richard Outram at richard.outram@manchester.gov.uk
How to become a member and access the Commonweal Collection
The Commonweal Collection is free and open to the public.
To become a member, you will need to bring proof of address (such as a utility bill or driving licence) or your Biometric Residence Permit to the JB Priestley Library Welcome Desk (tel. 01274 233301) on any weekday during staffed hours, which can be found at https://www.bradford.ac.uk/library/contact-and-about-us/opening-hours/
Library staff will create for you a Photo ID membership card, which entitles you to borrow 8 Commonweal Collection books (most are 4-week loans; some more popular items are 1-week loans). Journals are for use on the premises only.
Non-members are welcome to visit the Collection but will be required to sign in at JB Priestley Library Welcome Desk in accordance with university policy.
If you cannot visit Bradford, but wish to use Commonweal materials, please order them using your public library or academic institution’s Inter-Library Loans scheme. Please ask at your local library for more information.
Please Note: Commonweal borrowers are not entitled to use JB Priestley Library materials.
