Outstanding Collections Recognized

Three of the country's stand out collections have been formally recognized by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) through its Designation Scheme. Having met the rigorous criteria of the scheme, collections held in Warwick, Reading and London have received this highly-regarded status.

Designation of collections in libraries, archives and other organisations across England means they have been recognised as being of outstanding national and international importance. MLA Chairman, Mark Wood, welcomed the added collections to the scheme, saying, "These three collections form part of the fabric of our nation's history, making their preservation, as well as access to them, essential. Designation status not only gives these fantastic collections a well-deserved quality mark, but confers a standing that can be used to raise their profile attract more visitors and strengthens their ability to raise additional funds."

Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick Library

The Modern Records Centre's collection of the archives of national trade unions and employers' organisations is unrivalled in the United Kingdom in terms of its scope and size. The archive includes collections of Ernest Bevin, Jack Jones, and Sir Bill Morris as well as those of practitioners of the study of industrial relations such as Sir George Bain and Hugh Clegg. The Centre's collection also includes the archives of pressure groups, political parties, businesses, individuals, the National Cycle Archive, and educational organisations.

Archive of British Publishing and Printing, Reading University

The Reading University Archive of British Publishing and Printing illustrates the full range of British publishing activity from 1800 to the present day. Most of the major literary, general and educational publishers are represented including Allen & Unwin, A & C Black, Heinemann Educational Books, Longman, Macmillan, Routledge and Random House. The Random House section includes the significant publishers - the Bodley Head; Jonathan Cape; Chatto and Windus; the Hogarth Press and Secker and Warburg. This comprehensive collection of material relating to books of all kinds leaves scarcely a subject unrepresented to some degree.

The Women's Library, London Metropolitan University

The Women's Library is the oldest and most extensive collection of women's history in Europe. This collection charts the enormous changes in women's lives in the UK across the last 150 years, telling the history of activism from the campaigner's perspective. Unrivalled in scope, it includes 60,000 books and pamphlets dating from 1592; over 3,000 periodicals dating from 1745; unique ephemera from over 4,000 women's organisations; over 460 archives dating from 1770 and over 5,000 objects dating from 1786. -- www.mla.gov.uk