The National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh. Photo Jwslubbock via Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
The National Library of Scotland has rescinded its controversial decision to exclude the book The Women Who Wouldn’t Wheesht from its Dear Library exhibition, previously reported in Workers.
Members of the public were asked to nominate influential books for inclusion in the exhibition, held to mark the library’s centenary, and The Women Who Wouldn’t Wheesht easily met the threshold for nominations.
But members of the National Library of Scotland’s staff LGBT network objected to its content and the book was excluded. After widespread criticism, the NLS backed down, and at a meeting with the book’s editors, apologised and restored the book to its place in the exhibition.
The book’s editors, Susan Dalgety and Lucy Hunter Blackburn, in a statement posted on X, accepted the apology and said that they hoped that this was a “turning point in public discourse”.
An independent review of the decision has now found that it was based on “inadequate evidence and consultation” and that the claims by the LGBT network were “threatening and inappropriate”. The review was carried out by a Scottish advocate.
The chairman of the NLS Board, Drummond Bone, will resign to be replaced by Christopher Smith in January.