MSP for the North East Irene McGugan will present staff at the University of Aberdeen’s Queen Mother Library with around 50 back copies of the Scots Independent at a special presentation on Monday, January 24, 2000.
The Library has been receiving copies of the monthly newspaper since it was first established in 1926 and this continued until 1995. The back copies will cover the period from 1995 until present day and will complete the University’s set, making it one of only a few full sets in Scotland.
The Scots Independent is a monthly newspaper, founded in 1926 by the Scots National League, which was instrumental in founding the National Party of Scotland in 1928. In 1934, the Party amalgamated with the Scottish Party to become the Scottish National Party.
The founding editor of the Scots Independent was William Gillies, great grandfather of Anne Lorne Gillies, prominent Scottish singer and academic. Other former editors include Dr David Murison, from Fraserburgh, and editor of the Scottish National Dictionary, and Colin Bell, broadcaster and former Rector of the University of Aberdeen.
It currently has a circulation of around 6,000 and is read by supporters of Scots independence throughout the world.
Mrs McGugan said: “I must acknowledge my gratitude to the Scots Independent for so readily agreeing to round up the missing copies. It gives me great pleasure to fill this gap and know that with them in place the Queen Mother Library has one of only three complete sets in Scotland. In total, they provide a complete history of the modern national independence movement.”
Carole Munro, Manager of the University’s Librarian Services, said: “We and the Politics Department appreciate the generosity of the Scottish National Party in donating the paper and other documents to Aberdeen University Library.
“The department is particularly interested in the reporting of constituency issues rather than just official policy proposals. We hope that the resource will be useful for research students for many years to come and that other political parties will follow the SNP’s lead.”
As well as the Scots Independent, the library has a substantial number of policy papers and election addresses by the party from the 1920s and 30s to recent days.
Mrs McGugan will present Carole Munro with the newspapers on Monday, January 24, at 11am in the Seminar Room of the QML. Dr Mike Dyer of the Department of Politics and International Relations will also be there. You are invited to send a journalist and photographer to cover the event. Further information available from Alison Ramsay, University of Aberdeen Press Officer on (01224) 273778, or Stewart Mowatt, Parliamentary Assistant to Irene McGugan, on (01224) 623150.