Major archive collection to be digitised

The International Brigade archives at the Marx Memorial Library & Workers’ School (MML) are to be digitised and put online in a major project that will run for the next 10 years. This important step will improve access and preservation of this internationally significant resource on the Spanish Civil War.

The London-based library will partner with international digital publishing company AM Digital to digitise its Spanish Collection, the most extensive Spanish Civil War archive in Britain, totalling 100,000 pages.

Materials to be digitised will be sent to AM Digital in batches and for the first 10 years, the publisher will be able to sell access to universities and other institutions. A timescale for the digitisation work – and any impact on access for researchers – will be made public in spring 2025.

IBMT and MML members will be able to consult and make use of the online archive free of charge throughout this period. After 10 years, full ownership will revert to the library. 

An editorial board is being set up to oversee the project. Members will include IBMT Historical Consultant Richard Baxell and MML Director Meirian Jump.

IBMT Chair Jim Jump welcomed the MML’s announcement. ‘The digitisation of the Marx Memorial Library’s Spanish Collection, which is the single most important archive of the International Brigades in Britain, has long been wished for by the IBMT,’ he said.

He added: ‘We are also delighted that IBMT members will enjoy privileged access to the digital archive during the 10 years when it will be managed by AM Digital.’

The basis of the MML’s Spanish Collection is the donation of papers and documents made by the International Brigade Association in 1973. It has since grown substantially thanks to donations from families and other bodies. The IBMT and MML will be looking to contact families and rights holders for permissions in the coming months.