THIS year’s AGM at the Marx Memorial Library & Workers’ School is not just about reflection — it’s about rallying for the future.

We’ve reached a critical moment. Our work is connecting with more people than it has in a generation. Nearly 4,000 individuals engaged with the library over the past year — both in person and online — the highest figures we’ve seen in decades. And this momentum shows no sign of slowing.

We’ve welcomed a growing number of school groups and student visitors through our doors. Our online courses have taken off. Local partnerships, like our first co-curated exhibition with the Peel Community Centre — Radical Clerkenwell Reinterpreted — have helped us reach new audiences.

We’ve also begun newly funded cataloguing and research on Dona Torr and the Communist Party History Group, work that strengthens our role as custodians of radical history.

But with this growth comes pressure. Our building — historic and full of character though it is — can no longer meet our needs. Marx House lacks space, accessibility and modern visitor facilities.

Every week, we turn away potential visitors or decline exciting opportunities because we simply don’t have the capacity. That’s not good enough — for us or for the movement we serve.

Looking ahead to our centenary in 2033, we’re not just dreaming — we’re planning. Our major project, Marx Memorial Library & Workers’ School at 100: People and Ideas for a Better World – The Point is to Change It, aims to transform the library into a fully accessible, welcoming, and dynamic hub for political education and historical research. A bid to the National Heritage Lottery Fund is in development, with the first application due this August.

We want to reconfigure the entire building: a new reception and exhibition space, upgraded meeting halls, and facilities that make Marx House a space for everyone. This transformation will mark a step change in our ability to deliver on our mission — to be a world-leading centre for the study of Marxism and socialist history.

But we can’t do it alone.

At today’s AGM, we’ll be calling on all our members, supporters, and trade union allies to help us unlock this next chapter. What can you do?

• Spread the word. Share our vision. The more people who know about the library’s work, the stronger the movement.

• Donate. If you or your union branch can pledge support once our funding is approved, those early commitments could make all the difference.

• Leave a legacy. Our trustees have pledged that 90 per cent of any bequest will go directly into the match fund. Legacy gifts tell funders that we have the long-term backing to deliver real change.

If you’ve already included MML in your will — or are considering it — we’d be honoured to hear from you.

This is a pivotal year for us. Together, we can build a future where the library continues to inspire, educate, and organise — for the next hundred years and beyond.

Meirian Jump is director of Marx Memorial Library & Workers’ School.