ON May Day the Marx Memorial Library throws open its doors, welcoming visitors to a special Open Day. 

We will celebrate International Workers’ Day inviting crowds gathering on Clerkenwell Green into our historic building.

Before the annual May Day march departs for Trafalgar Square, there will be an address from the steps of Marx House. 

Venezuelan ambassador to Britain Rocio del Valle Maneiro Gonzalez will speak at midday. 

Harsev Bains, trustee of the Marx Memorial Library, will commemorate the centenary of the Amristar massacre.

Visitors on May Day can enjoy feature tours of the building — including the office Lenin worked in while in exile in 1902-3 — a slide show exhibition of our newly digitised poster collection and stalls of second-hand books, tea and cake.

Gift cards featuring illustrations of our Soviet posters will be available for sale, alongside a new publication Marx 200: The Significance of Marxism In the 21st Century produced by Praxis Press.

Our annual open day comes at an exciting time for our library. We are tapping into a renewed interest in socialism and working-class history. 

The MML’s AGM, on Saturday April 27, reported that visitor numbers are up by over 50 per cent in the 12 months spanning 2017-18. This is a notable trend. Tickets for our Marx 200 conference at the School of Oriental and African Studies in May 2018 sold out within six weeks. 

We hosted a Marxist “Question and Answer” session at the World Transformed Festival in Liverpool in September. There is a demand for our Marxist education work.

These figures also reflect the growing number of researchers from across the globe who visit our reading room to consult our recently catalogued archive collections.

They include our Spanish Collection, Poster Collection and smaller archives such as the papers of the British Soviet Friendship Society. 

Collaborative work with universities, including University College London and Westminster University, and a series of grant-funded projects have made this vital work possible.

The AGM also heard from Joginder Bains, general secretary of the Indian Workers’ Association. 

Our vice-president’s speech highlighted the importance of school education on British imperialism and the crimes of empire.

The MML has begun revitalising its school workshop programme. The first four months of 2019 have seen more school and student groups coming through the MML’s doors than in the whole of 2018. 

We are now working with London secondary schools to create online learning resources for Refugee Week (June 17-23) and Black History Month (October), drawing directly on our unique archive collections.

The AGM also announced the launch of a new website. Developed by GreenNet, the resource includes listings of forthcoming events and courses including a series of film screenings on class struggle commencing on May 8 and courses including An Introduction to Marxism commencing on June 25. 

Our online course on Labour, Value and Exploitation — an introduction to Marxist economics — gives our education programme a truly international reach.

The new site also features digital resources including films of previous events, text searchable copies of archival material, photo galleries and more. 

You will also find all previous Full Marx Morning Star columns. This is a growing educational resource for the labour movement.

The MML was founded in 1933 as a “Workers’ School,” and this object remains at the core of our mission. 

The AGM heard a progress report on the Unite History Project. The MML is working with the union to mark its centenary. 

This innovative undertaking will create a six-volume history of the union with a companion website at www.theunitehistoryproject.org. 

Drawing on research by activists across the union’s 10 regions, this project will create educational resources for the union and an accessible history on the British labour movement as a whole. 

On May Day we will be asking trade unionists to get involved, to unearth memorabilia and speak to us about their memories.

Also, this week we were also delighted to announce the 2019 issue of Theory & Struggle, our annual journal published by Liverpool University Press. Featuring contributions from Vijay Prashad, Kate Hudson and Jonathan Michie, and a new reviews section. Members will soon receive a copy in the post.

Join us to celebrate these achievements and look to the future on May 1.

The MML’s May Day Open Day runs from 11am-3pm. For more information visit www.marx-memorial-library.org.uk.