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Working Class Movement Library

Working Class Movement Library

Working people have always struggled to get their voices heard. The Working Class Movement Library is a treasure trove with records of over 200 years of organising and campaigning by ordinary men and women. Based in a former nurses’ home just a 15 minute walk from Manchester city centre, the Working Class Movement Library is a charity with a social conscience and a fascinating history. The Library started life in the 1950s as the personal collection of Edmund and Ruth Frow. The founders were proud that their love of books created a unique and valuable resource for people wanting to know more about working people’s lives and political beliefs. By the 1980s their house was at bursting point and so Salford Council agreed to house the magnificent library in a Victorian building called Jubilee House on the Crescent in Salford. The collection has been there ever since. The collection captures many points of view to tell the story of Britain's working classes from the beginning of industrialisation to the present day.