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The Anarchist Library

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Anarchist Library
Formation2007
FounderAragorn!
Marco
Other anarchists
PurposeArchiving and distributing documentation related to anarchism
Services
Official language
English
Affiliations Anarchism
Websitetheanarchistlibrary.org

The Anarchist Library is an online anarchist library and archive founded around 2007 by Aragorn!, Marco and other anarchists. Free to use and aimed at gathering all English-language anarchist literature, or literature translated into English, the library gradually gained increasing importance within anarchism in the early 21st century.

History

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The online library was founded by Aragorn!, Marco and other anarchists around 2007.[1][2][3][4][5] It emerged from anarchist circles that were then seeking to organize using the tools provided by the advent of the internet.[6] Marco left it during the second half of the 2010s to establish another project, seeking a multiplicity of small anarchist libraries rather than a single one.[1][7]

Table of The Anarchist Library for the 2024 Upstate Anarchist Bookfair in Binghamton, NY

In 2018, researcher Jayne Malenfant noted, in her surveys of anarchist youth in rural Canada, that the internet had become a privileged space for anarchist thought, particularly through this library.[8] Two years later, the project members mentioned approximately 7,000 archived texts.[4] During the COVID-19 pandemic, the library undertook an effort to collect data related to mutual aid practices by anarchists.[9]

Between 2020 and 2026, The Anarchist Library more than doubled, reaching 16,000 texts in early 2026.[5]

Goals and organization

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It aims to serve as a gathering place for anarchist publications or those related to anarchism in English, and to enable the establishment of archival work for anarchist textual resources.[10] The library's collections focus particularly on contemporary anarchism, and almost all of the texts are in English,[11] although there are sister libraries in many worldwide languages.[12] The collection is built by free and open with regard to editors,[11] operating as a wiki.[13][14]

The library is credited by Ray Di Marco Campbell, lecturer at the University of Glasgow,[15] with participating in anarchist economic practices.[16] They argue that the availability of a number of research publications directly challenges the monopoly and private property of the publishing industry.[16]

Legacy

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Influence(s)

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The library is one of the older anarchist projects on the internet, and its approach to categorizing and preserving anarchist or anarchism-related sources can be seen, for example, in initiatives aimed at digitizing the American anarchist press.[6] In 2019, Ruth Kinna noted the library as a 'reference work' on contemporary anarchist thought.[11]

Fairmont University recommends The Anarchist Library as a useful resource for studying anarchism.[17] Its collection of texts related to the Spanish Civil War was noted by the anarchist newspaper Fifth Estate.[18] In 2026, it was noted as 'having notable importance in anarchist propaganda carried out at the beginning of the 21st century' by a historian[who?] delving into one of the libraries founders and administrators, Aragorn!.[5]

References

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  1. 1 2 "Anarchist Libraries | About this project". anarchistlibraries.net. Retrieved 2025-07-06.
  2. ↑ Collective, CrimethInc Ex-Workers (2021-02-13). "CrimethInc. : Remembering Aragorn! : A Zine, a Video, and a Poem". CrimethInc. Retrieved 2025-07-06.
  3. ↑ "Aragorn! A Provocation Even in Death". anarchistnews.org. Retrieved 2025-07-06.
  4. 1 2 "The Anarchist Library talk at 2020 London Anarchist Bookfair | The Anarchist Library Bookshelf". bookshelf.theanarchistlibrary.org. Archived from the original on 2025-03-27. Retrieved 2025-07-06.
  5. 1 2 3 CEP. "Aragorn [dit "Aragorn !", "Aragorn Bang"]". Dictionnaire international des militant·e·s anarchistes / International Dictionary of Anarchist activists (in French). Retrieved 2026-02-06.
  6. 1 2 Cornell, Andrew (2019). "Archival Parties and Parties to the Archive: Creating and Recovering Anarchist Resistance Culture at the Interference Archive". American Periodicals. 29 (1): 21–25. ISSN 1054-7479. JSTOR 26729241.
  7. ↑ "AnarchistLibraries.Net". 325.nostate.net. Archived from the original on 2018-07-03. Retrieved 2025-07-06.
  8. ↑ Malenfant, Jayne (2018). "Anarchist Youth in Rural Canada: Technology, Resistance, and the Navigation of Space". Jeunesse: Young People, Texts, Cultures. 10 (2): 126–151. doi:10.1353/jeu.2018.0020. ISSN 1920-261X.
  9. ↑ Swann, Thomas (2023-01-01). "'Anarchist technologies': Anarchism, cybernetics and mutual aid in community responses to the COVID-19 crisis". Organization. 30 (1): 193–209. doi:10.1177/13505084221090632. ISSN 1350-5084. PMC 10076238. PMID 37038431.
  10. ↑ Kinna 2012, p. 370.
  11. 1 2 3 Kinna, Ruth (2013). "Anarchism". obo. doi:10.1093/obo/9780199756384-0059. ISBN 978-0-19-975638-4. Retrieved 2025-07-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: periodical has ISBN (link)
  12. ↑ "Other anarchist libraries | The Anarchist Library Bookshelf". bookshelf.theanarchistlibrary.org. Retrieved 2026-08-13.
  13. ↑ Amusewiki.
  14. ↑ "About the project". The Anarchist Library. Retrieved 2026-08-13.
  15. ↑ "University of Glasgow - Schools - School of Education - Our staff - Mr Luke Campbell". www.gla.ac.uk. Retrieved 2025-07-06.
  16. 1 2 "Article: Intellectual Property is Theft – Towards an Anarchist Culture of Knowledge Sharing & Translation – AnarchistStudies.Blog". Retrieved 2025-07-06.
  17. ↑ Reference, Library. "Fairmont State University Library: Anarchy: Internet Resources". library.fairmontstate.edu. Retrieved 2025-07-06.
  18. ↑ "Spanish Revolution Resource Page - Fifth Estate Magazine". Retrieved 2025-07-06.

Bibliography

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