anarchist libraries

To mark the 140th anniversary of the first issue of Freedom, pdf scans of all issues of the newspaper published between October 1886 and November-December 1927 are now available on-line:

https://anarchistfaq.org/freedom/

From FICEDL

Bologna · international meeting of the libertarian archives

Dear comrades, riding the wave of enthusiasm following the success of the BOAB – Bologna Anarchist Bookfair in September 2025, we have decided to try and breathe new life into another event that has not taken place for the past ten years. We are therefore delighted to invite you to an international meeting of the anarchist archives of the FICEDL network, the International Federation of Anarchist Documentation and Study Centres (ficedl.info).

KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library No. 121, August 2026 has just been posted on our site

KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library No. 120, April 2026 has just been posted on our site: https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/c2fszv. The pdf is up at https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/gqnnfr

From CIRA of Marseille
February 2026

Ali dropped out of high school after his sophomore year. Close to libertarian ideas, he became involved at a very young age in the anarchist group in Pré-Saint-Gervais, where he met Georges Darbois, May Picqueray, José Morato, and Montsé Turtos. In the mid-1970s, he helped support the bookstore Le Jargon Libre, founded by Helyette Bess and Gilbert Roth on Rue de la Reine-Blanche in the 13th arrondissement. He was also part of the anarchist magazine Commune libre.

From Kate Sharpley Library

The Kate Sharpley Library aims to preserve what anarchists have written (published or not) as an essential way to understand the ideas and history of the movement. To the best of our ability we try to make those things available, which leads into publishing. Which may be less librarianly, but has always has always been a concern of the KSL.

From Anarchist Libraries Network

Back to the roots, back to material solidity. To real discussions, physical spaces of confrontation before connection. Faced with a reality that crumbles between our fingers, with a memory of what anarchist thought once was — now fading in the face of media doublethink and the sweet constraint of new communication channels — the only choice was to rethink the conflicting relationship between what this world imposes — digitization and the dematerialization of relationships — and what we carry in our hearts and refuse to abandon — the rejection of consensus and the love for unique, sensual encounters between individuals struggling against this existing order.

From Kate Sharpley Library

Anarchist libraries sometimes arise from a personal collection of books and papers, and sometimes such collections end up within an institution. In June 1903 reports appeared of the purchase of the ‘Finest library on Anarchy – Books, Pamphlets and Flaming Posters of the Most Violent Character Secured by Columbia.'