Deeds not Words 1918-2018: artsdepot, Barnet

This was a most appropriate slogan chosen by the Suffragette movement in and after 1918 to epitomise their campaign for women to get the vote in Great Britain. Their epic and heroic campaign, which included breaking unjust laws, was eventually successful. Our group felt that the motto has resounded down the years and is and has been as relevant to subsequent activists as it was in 1918.

This made our group think about an event in our local area, when in 2012, Barnet Council without notice closed Friern Barnet library, despite a vigorous local campaign to save it from closure. Five months later, a small group of squatters walked through an open window, reopened the library and invited the community to join them in restocking its shelves with donated books and reopening the library to the public.

After a Crown Court case the squatters were evicted, but the magistrate allowed a stay of execution for Barnet Council to negotiate a lease with the local community to run the library. Due to their actions, six years later in 2018 they continue to run the library.