THE Marx Memorial Library & Workers’ School has announced an ambitious programme of events, courses, lectures, archive sessions and exhibitions for the autumn.

Today, Tuesday September 8, the MML’s reading room, with the stunning backdrop of the Jack Hastings fresco, opens again to researchers by appointment. This follows a busy closure period in August, which saw the redecoration of our distinctive historic facade, accompanied by urgent roof repairs thanks to support from Islington Council.

Two online courses from our suite will be running this term. We are unique in the movement in offering online Marxist education at introductory level, giving insights into how trade unions work, how we explain economic crises and what imperialism’s relationship with capitalism is.

This term we’ll be running our most popular course, “An Introduction to Marxism,” alongside “Trade Unions and Power,” an ideal course for trade union members keen to gain an understanding of the role of unions in their historical context and how their power works today.

Meet the tutors and find out more about our course offer at our free online taster session on Tuesday September 22 at 7pm.

We mark three major anniversaries this autumn.

On Sunday October 4, at the Cable Street at 90 commemorations, keep an eye out for a series of striking biographical placards produced jointly with the International Brigade Memorial Trust, remembering the International Brigaders who were at Cable Street and then later went on to volunteer to defend the Spanish Republic.

On November 5, we’ll be following up our supplement in the Morning Star with key contributors at a joint event with the International Brigade Memorial Trust. MML is home to the Spanish Collection, the most significant archive on the British response to the Spanish civil war, including papers of brigaders, photos, banners and more.

What better place than MML to mark 90 years since the formation of the International Brigades, where we will be joined by three fantastic speakers: Noelia Sanchez of the PCE-GB (the Spanish Communist Party’s British-based organisation), Micaela Tracey-Ramos, vice-president of Unison, and Alex Gordon, general secretary of the Communist Party.

We’ll explore lessons in international solidarity, unity in the fight against fascism and internationalism.

On November 25, we mark 100 years since Fidel Castro was born. We’ll explore his legacy through a Marxist lens, looking at his life as a Marxist thinker, his impact globally as an internationalist and his legacy today, not least what we can do in the face of global threats to the Cuban revolution.

We will welcome Stephen Wilkinson, Bernard Regan and Francisco Dominguez. Visitors will also be treated to a special archive display to mark the occasion.

Our programme is marked by annual partnership lectures and this year is no different. Our annual Engels Memorial Lecture, jointly organised with the Working Class Movement Library in Salford, will be delivered by Professor Chik Collins on language as a contested tool in struggles for social and political change, drawing on early Soviet thinkers such as Vygotsky.

Treat yourself to a ticket for the November 26 event, available online and onsite.

This year also sees the first in our annual Political Economy Lectures. On October 8, we will hear from Michael Roberts with a timely contribution on the role of AI and the question: can it save capitalism?

Our partnership with Islington Heritage goes from strength to strength, with key dates for the diary in our “Reds on the Green” programme. “Lenin in Clerkenwell” takes place on November 19, followed by a special print workshop on Wednesday December 2.

These sessions bring history to life in innovative ways, with readings from Krupskaya’s biography and hands-on opportunities to create your own zines.

We also offer bite-sized ways into Marxist classics, with online classes on Engels and Housing and Lenin’s Imperialism. Check out our website for these 7pm Wednesday sessions starting on October 7, an ideal way to start a conversation and find a way into these seminal texts.

Building on our collaboration with Brunel University and work with our doctoral student Katy Easthill, we are curating a day session on September 30 aimed at PhD students, unpacking archival research and enhancing access to little-used elements of our collections for researchers.

We’ll hear from Tanveer Ahmed on “Fashion and Race” and Oliver Dowling on his work exploring solidarity campaigns with Latin America in the archives.

For the first time, we will also be working with LSE on a “Stolen from the Archives” special tour to mesh with their exhibition on this subject. Tickets for this November 24 session will be available soon.

Our work isn’t confined to meetings at 37A Clerkenwell Green. Our Hammersmith Socialist Society Banner, created by William Morris and usually on display in our Main Hall, is going on an exciting journey and will be the centrepiece of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge’s exhibition “A Call to Art: William Morris and the Pre-Raphaelites,” running from October 23 to May 3.

Crowd-pleasers, including our book sale on October 31 and our Open House Open Day on September 19, offer the opportunity to drop in to MML at the weekend.

This, alongside our twice-weekly tours, means there are plenty of opportunities to explore the Marx Memorial Library behind the scenes, including the Lenin Room, its fresco and much more.

Full details can be viewed online: www.marx-memorial-library.org.uk/events www.marx-memorial-library.org.uk/education/current-and-forthcoming-courses