Are your bookshelves overflowing? Are you downsizing, and trying to face disposing of much-loved books you simply don’t have room for any more? Here’s a great solution:

Hunter Workers (formerly known as Newcastle Trades Hall Council) is seeking donations of books and journals of labour movement relevance for the new Hunter Workers’ Library, specifically:

• local/Australian labour history, including biographies and histories of individuals and unions
• Australian political theory and history, especially ALP and other labour-focused parties
• Australian feminist history and theory
• CPA and other Australian left political history and theory, including biographies and autobiographies
• literature on the Australian Peace & Nuclear Disarmament Movement
• labour-themed fiction or fiction by prominent labour activist/CPA authors
• Newcastle-specific material on any of the above topics 
• Material relating to Newcastle and the Hunter

The library has an extensive collection of Marx and Engels, but many of these are very old and in poor condition, so donations of any in good condition would be very welcome.

They would also be ecstatic to receive any donations of ephemera (badges, posters, flyers, etc) related to these topics.

If you have books to offer, please contact Samantha Dagg, the Librarian, at l[email protected] or on 0431 225599. (Sam is at the Library on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.)

It would be most useful if you could send Sam a list of what you can offer, so as to avoid too much duplication.

If you or someone you know is able to deliver the books to Hunter Workers in Newcastle, that would be really great. Otherwise, Sam will coordinate the collection of the boxes of books. Please note that this is unlikely to be immediate; the scheme will rely on the kindness of Newcastle people visiting Sydney who can fit the books in their cars, or people driving up from Sydney who are prepared to carry them. (So don’t leave it to the last minute before you move house or whatever to contact Sam about books you can offer!)

And if you know someone who’s driving to Newcastle and would be happy to help out, please let Sam know in case she knows of books to be collected.

Do please pass this on to friends who may also have books to offer.