A four-minute video, “The Living Room Library,” was created as part of the LGBTQ+ filmmaking project, E.D.E.N. Digital 2021/22. The video shows what happened to the 4500 zines of the Salford Zine Library during COVID, ending up in boxes in a volunteer’s flat before being temporarily shifted to Salford University. It’s clear from the film what a labor of love zine collections can be.
This week marks the soft launch of a new collection, the Take It Back Zine Library, based in Scotland. The library consists of zines about mental illness and madness in physical and digital format. They’re accepting new submissions as well, so check back as the collection grows!
Zine librarians and zinesters will come together on Wednesday January 26 as part of a Zineklatsch hosted by the Archiv der Jugendkulturen in Berlin. The online/Zoom event will be held at 4-8 pm Central European Time (that’s 10 am-2 pm U.S. Eastern time). The folks from the archive and Schikkimikki zine distro & library will be sharing info about what they’ve been up to in the past two Covid years. Find more details and a Zoom link at the Archiv der Jugenkulturen site.
The University of Illinois student paper, the Daily Illini, featured a story on zine making workshops: “Urbana Free Library introduces self-expression through zines” by Michelle Martinez. The article features library volunteers Carol Inskeep and Emily Guske talking about the power of self-expression in creating zines.
A new book on zines in libraries, edited by Lauren DeVoe and Sara Duff, was published this month by ALA Editions. “Zines in Libraries: Selecting, Purchasing, and Processing” includes chapters on circulation, preservation, acquisitions, collection development, and more, including information specifically about zines in school libraries and the Zine Union Catalog. Some chapters have open access copies available; we’re collecting links to institutional repositories.
Here’s a very cool story from the Greater Victoria Public Library in British Columbia, Canada: “Inside a hollow library book, a secret library.” A hollowed out book placed on a library shelf featured a zine library created by an anonymous artist and known about only via word of mouth. It’s a great detective story and a fun idea—I hope it inspires others to try similar projects!
An article in the Williams College student newspaper by Aiden Pham, “Sawyer zine collection celebrates creativity, community,” discusses the zine collection at the college’s Sawyer Library. The collection was created in 2018 in response to “flyers with xenophobic, white supremacist, and anti-Semitic messages circulating in Sawyer library.” The story quotes zinester students and discusses the power of zines to introduce diverse voices into the library.
Laura Arenschield of the Ohio State News wrote an article sharing information about quaranzines at The Ohio State University Libraries: “Skeletor, poetry, hand-made art: Quaranzines tell COVID stories.” Jolie Braun, curator of modern literature and manuscripts for The Ohio State University Libraries, is interviewed about the origin of the collection and what the zines say about the experience of life during the COVID pandemic: “As soon as you open them, there’s going to be something that probably feels familiar or resonates with you, and that’s really powerful,” she said. “But I think it’s also equally interesting and significant that there are all these other zines that really show you other people’s experiences that are maybe very different from your own that you hadn’t really considered or thought about.” Read the full story at Ohio State News.
“Corvallis Zinesters, Local Zine Culture,” a new article in The Corvallis Advocate written by Emilie Ratcliff, explores multiple aspects of the local zine scene in Corvallis, Oregon. Most striking is the zine library at Mt. Caz, a Corvallis-based renegade community art space. The tree-shaped library is maintained by Christina Tran, who also runs zinemaking workshops at the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library. The article also highlights the work of Kelly McElroy, the Student Engagement and Community Outreach Librarian at Oregon State University, who talks about her work teaching classes with zines and helping facilitate zines made as class projects. Read the full article at The Corvallis Advocate.
New article from Liz Ohanesian, “Zine Collections Showcase and Amplify Diverse Voices Even in the Age of Social Media,” highlights the six branches of the Los Angeles Public Library that have zine collections. Librarians Ziba Perez, Angi Brzycki, and Daniel Tures share their thoughts about what zines add to LAPL.
An additional article is also available: “Want to Make a Zine? These Zine Makers Have Tips For Getting Started.”
A group of zine librarians out of the UK are working on creating a new Zine Researchers’ Code of Ethics. They’ll be discussing the drafting process and goals on Wednesday August 18 from 2-4 pm BST. Read more about the idea for a ZRCoE in this post from Lilith Joyce Cooper, and find more info about the August 18 meeting.
The Portland Zine Symposium will be held online on Saturday July 24 and July 25, and along with workshops and talks, there will be a casual, drop-in session just for zine librarians. Kelsey Smith and Aggie Burstein will host the session, which will be Sunday July 25 from 3:30-4:30 pm on Sunday July 25.
Registration is free for all and all are welcome, but you must register in advance for each session during #VirtualPZS2021 that you want to attend in order to receive the Zoom links. Find the full schedule at portlandzinesymposium.org/virtualpzs.
A new exhibit titled “The Fly Zine Archive: A Chronicle of Punk, Queer, and Anarchist Counterculture” is opening at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) on July 15, 2021. The exhibit will be open through April 2022. The archive consists of nearly 2,000 printed works – zines, comics, pamphlets and more – collected by activist Fly Orr and created by “punk, anarchist, feminist and LGBTQ+ artists.”
Read more about the Fly Zine Archive in this 2020 post from Ian Karp: “Rebel voice: Inside the Fly Zine Archive, a chronicle of punk, queer, and DIY counterculture” and explore more about the creation of the exhibit in this July 2021 article from the University of Minnesota student newspaper, “Recent UMN grad organizes new zine exhibition at Minneapolis Institute of Art.”
Welcome to International Zine Month 2021! IZM is a project created by Alex Wrekk, of Stolen Sharpie Revolution fame, as a way to celebrate many aspects of zines and the zinester community. Every year Alex creates a flyer which provides day-to-day events: find a printable copy and a text version of the info in the flyer at Alex’s IZM page.
Please note that July 21 is Zine Library Day! Plan something special in your library!
On Wednesday May 19th, zine librarians Ziba Perez and Jenna Freedman will be presenting a workshop titled “Overthrow the 10-Page Paperarchy: Manifesto Zines.” They’ll be modeling zine-making as a means of challenging the white patriarchy and exploring the capacity for zines to highlight skills beyond those recognized and valued by the academy.
The workshop is part of the Critical Pedagogy Symposium cosponsored by METRO and ACRLY/NY. Registration is free; find more info at mnylc.org/cps.