Zine Zone at the New Jersey Library Association conference

I enjoyed reading about the “Zine Zone” at the New Jersey Library Association conference in May. Librarians at NJLA set up a space for attendees to learn what zines are, read zines, and get ideas on how to incorporate zines and zine-making into your own library programming. They also made a collaborative conference zine. Turns out they’ve got an NJLA Zine Zone Instagram account, too!

screenshot of the Instagram account of the Zine Zone of the New Jersey Library Association

If you’re passionate about zines in libraries, consider following the example of the NJLA Zine Zone and the Zine Pavilion to create a space at library events to connect with other zine folks and share info.

ZLuC 2024 wrap-up

The 2024 Zine Librarians unConference was a terrific success! Thanks so much to the ZLuC 2024 organizers: Jenna, Gina, and Lauren!! And thank you to our other volunteers and presenters who made it a welcoming, valuable event.

If you weren’t able to join us, check out the ZLuC 2024 wiki for information about presentations and other discussions. Our notes from the presentations are a little hit and miss, so feel free to reach out to presenters if you have questions or want to hear more about the cool stuff they’re doing.

group photo of about 100 people sitting in chairs in a large university conference room.

Attendees at ZLuC 2024. Photo credit: Weiwei Lin

ZLuC 2024 is here!

Zine librarians from across the U.S. and beyond will be joining the fun at the 16th Zine Librarians unConference, happening Saturday August 3rd and Sunday August 4th in New York City. Find all the details, including the schedule, at our ZLuC 2024 wiki. A huge thanks to the organizers and volunteers who make ZLuC happen!

Cover of the program for the Zine Librarians unConference which includes maps, tips, schedules, COVID policy, and more. Features a black and white drawing of a bodega front with a sign reading "fresh zines" and zines on display outside.

cover of the ZLuC 2024 program illustrated by Childish Books

Zine Pavilion 2024 in San Diego

For those of you attending the ALA Annual Conference in San Diego, there are some great events planned at the Zine Pavilion:

  • Saturday June 29, noon–2 pm: Gaming Round Table x Zine Pavilion Zine Jam
  • Sunday June 30, 10–11:30 am: Zines as Graphic Medicine for Librarians, presented by Cassy Lee
  • Sunday June 30, noon–1 pm: Maintaining a Zine Collection panel discussion
  • Sunday June 30, 2–3 pm: How to Host a Zine Event panel discussion

Find the Zine Pavilion on the exhibit hall floor at booth 2742. The Zine Pavilion is open the same hours at the exhibit hall (aka the “Library Marketplace”):

  • Friday June 28: 5:30 pm–7 pm
  • Saturday June 29: 9 am–5 pm
  • Sunday June 30: 9 am–5 pm
  • Monday July 1: 9 am–2 pm

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone there!

map of the exhibit hall floor at ALA Annual 2024, showing the location of booth 2742 at the back of the exhibit hall

click for an expandable map of the exhibit hall floor

ZLuC 2024 BIPOC Travel Grant

Every year, the zine libraries community raises money to help a person of color attend the Zine Librarians unConference (ZLuC). This year’s ZLuC will be held Sunday August 3rd and 4th in New York City. This grant is intended to help with associated travel and/or family care costs. No receipts are requested or required: we just give you money to attend!

If you are Black, Indigenous, and/or a POC and would like to apply for the ZLuC 2024 BIPOC Travel Grant, please fill out this application. Applications will be accepted until May 1st. All applicants will be contacted by the week of May 13th.

Would you be willing to support the grant to ensure BIPOC attendees are supported? If so, please consider donating! 100% of donations go directly to grant recipients.

  • Paypal: @violetbfox
  • Venmo: @violetfox
  • Cashapp: $violetbfox

Be sure to mention “ZLUC” in the notes! To arrange an alternate form of payment, please email violetfox @ gmail. com.

New zine library at University of North Texas

fun, brightly colored graphic with words reading Artist Books to ZinesHere’s an interesting event taking place on Saturday March 23rd at the University of North Texas (near Dallas/Fort Worth):

From Artists’ Books to Zines is a new initiative from UNT Special Collections in conjunction with our Biennial Artists’ Book Competition to provide students and other attendees interested in the book arts field an opportunity to connect with other artists and creators working in the medium, foster engaging scholarship and discussion related to the field, explore and promote the reemergence of zines and their connections to the book arts field, and to honor and celebrate the participants and winners of the 2023-2024 Artists’ Book Competition cycle.

During From Artists’ Books to Zines, attendees will have the opportunity to listen to curated panels related to the book arts featuring UNT and TWU faculty, community organizers, and artists, hear a keynote presentation with recognized book artist Candace Hicks, view a pop-up exhibition of 2023-2024 Artists’ Book Competition entries, take part in a collaborative zine workshop, attend the official opening of UNT Special Collection’s new browsable zine library, and attend the reception for the Artists’ Book Competition where winners and honorable mentions will be recognized and announced. The symposium will be free to attend and food and refreshments will be provided throughout the day, but registration will be required due to space constraints.

ZLuC 2024: get excited!!

Planning for this year’s Zine Librarians unConference is heating up! ZLuC 2024 will be held on the campus of New York University in Manhattan on Saturday August 3rd and Sunday August 4th. There will also be optional library tours on the afternoon of Sunday August 4th.

There’s now a call for both remote and in-person presentation proposals. Consider sharing your passion and knowledge about zine librarianship at ZLuC 2024.

You can find all the information about the event as it is announced at the wiki for ZLuC 2024. Hope to see you there!

hand drawn flyer with a big apple and skyline of Manhattan and text reading "Zine Librarians unConference 2024, August 3-4 at NYU."

International Zine Library Day 2023

Did you know July is International Zine Month? And that there’s a special day of the year designated for celebrating zine libraries?? In 2023, Zine Library Day is Saturday July 22nd: make plans to have a fun event or just enjoy the traditional vegan donut (or treat of your choice!).

IZM2023Poster

Thanks to Alex Wrekk for maintaining International Zine Month and to Mr. Chompy from Zineville for this year’s idea-packed flyer!

Zine Pavilion 2023 details

The Zine Pavilion will be back at the American Library Association (ALA) conference in Chicago from June 23-26, 2023. If you’re attending the ALA conference, please be sure to stop by the Zine Pavilion to see hundreds of zines on display, enter our raffle to potentially win zines for your library, or talk with the dozens of zinesters who will be selling their zines!

Find the Zine Pavilion on the exhibit hall floor (also called the “Library Marketplace”). We‘ll be located at booth number 2444 (towards the back of the hall); see this interactive map of the exhibit hall. We have the same hours as the exhibit hall.

Event schedule (all events held at the Zine Pavilion unless otherwise noted):

ALA 2023 Chicago Collaborative Zine (Friday through Sunday)
Create a page for the annual ALA Conference zine! A table with supplies to express your conference feels, ideas, or anything that strikes your fancy will be set up at the Zine Pavilion. Return between noon and 2 pm on Monday to get your own copy of the final zine. The collaborative zine will also be posted on the Zine Pavilion Tumblr after the event.

Zine Swap (Friday 5:30-7 pm)
Bring a few copies of your zine to swap and share with other zine creators. Can’t make it the first evening? Don’t worry! An area to swap and share zines will remain up on the Zine Pavilion information table throughout the weekend.

Queer Zinester Meet-up (Friday 8:30pm)
Get to know other queer zinesters at an off-site meet-up with light refreshments. Non-alcoholic beverages will be available but you are welcome to bring some of your own!

Zines?? Students as Knowledge Creators (Saturday 11 am-noon)
Can zines be an acceptable form of a college student’s final project rather than a final research paper in higher education? YES! Community College Librarian and Professor of Information Literacy, Rosa Bernal, presents how she teaches her Information Studies course so students can be knowledge creators in the form of a zine. While students become experts in their chosen topics and experience making a zine in Canva, they also learn information literacy skills using the ACRL (Academic College and Research Libraries) Information Literacy framework and effectively using traditional and electronic library resources. Students also become acquainted with the history of zines, zine making, and their D.I.Y. purpose and see themselves as legitimate self-publishers by the end of the course.

Incarcerated People as Zinesters Panel (Saturday 1-2:30 pm)
Listen to a discussion about the Anthony Rayson Zine Collection and the place of zines by incarcerated people outside of libraries/archives between Anthony Rayson (South Chicago ABC Zine Distro), Derek Potts (DePaul University Special Collections), Rachel Jones (Interference Archive), Ai Miller (Strange Deer Press), Jeremy Hammond (Midwest Books to Prisoners) and Andrea Kszystyniak (Omaha Zine Fest Co-Founder and Organizer). There will be free zines selected from the Anthony Rayson Collection to take with you!

Zines from Creation to the Stacks (Sunday 10-11 am)
Zine cataloging can be interesting, intimidating, and puzzling all at the same time. Join a small group discussion at the Zine Pavilion to share tips and tricks for describing DIY publications which can defy traditional standards. Zine cataloger Violet Fox and zinester and artist Kee Merriweather will be discussing the intricacies of zine cataloging from the perspective of a librarian and a zine creator.

Zines! Let Creativity Flow in Your School Library: No Grading Allowed (Sunday 1-2 pm)
In this workshop facilitated by Lisa Bishop, the goal is to unleash creativity in your school library and collaborate differently with your teaching colleagues. Learn the how-tos of making zines with your students in the school library and find zine festivals to exhibit and promote your students’ art, words, ideas and teach them to sell, barter, and more.

Call Number podcast about zines in libraries

Episode 84 of Call Number, the American Libraries podcast, is focused on Chicago treasures in preparation of the upcoming 2023 American Library Association conference (June 22-27). Podcast host Diana Panuncial talks with Liz Mason, manager of Quimby’s Bookstore, a longstanding Chicago institution specializing in independent and small press books, comics, and zines. They discuss the city’s zine scene and how librarians can incorporate these publications into their collections and programming. The zine discussion starts at the 20:45 mark.

ZLuC 2023 registration now open

Interested in joining zinesters & library/archives workers from across the U.S. and beyond to talk about zine librarianship? Registration is now open for the 2023 Zine Librarians unConference, happening August 4-5 in San Francisco. Registration is free and capped at 100 in-person attendees; virtual options will be available.

Find more information and a registration link at the ZLuC 2023 page.

flyer with photo of the Golden Gate bridge and an announcement that the 2023 Zine Librarian unConference will be held in San Francisco

ZLuC 2023 BIPOC travel grant

Every year, the zine librarian community gathers at the Zine Librarians unConference, which will be held this year in San Francisco on August 4th and 5th. And every year, the community crowdfunds money for travel grants for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color to attend ZLuC. If you’re a BIPOC library worker or zinester interested in attending ZLuC, please fill out our travel grant application. Previous awards have ranged from around $250 to around $750. The number of recipients and the amount distributed depends on how many donations received—if you’d like to contribute to the ZLuC BIPOC travel grant fund, send money via PayPal to julia.huddleston [at] gmail, or get in touch at that address to discuss other ways to donate.

flyer showing a photo of the Golden Gate Bridge and a wall of zines. Text reads "ZLuC BIPOC travel grant applications now open, apply by April 21"

ZLuC 2023: save the date

The Zine Librarians unConference will be held in person this year! This year’s ZLuC will be held in San Francisco, California on Friday August 4 and Saturday August 5. There may be additional events (like tours of zine stores/zine libraries or a zinester reading) held on Sunday August 6, too, so consider keeping your schedule free that day as well.

ZLuC 2023 Registration is now open! We are capping in-person to 100 attendees. In addition, we will be exploring virtual options, for at least one of the days.
You can register here: https://forms.gle/SM7SQrXCv5Bx3EU5A. Registration is free and the due date for registration is July 10th.
You’ll be able to find all the info about ZLuC 2023 as it’s announced at this landing page: zinelibraries.info/wiki/zluc-2023-san-francisco.

If you’d like to support the travel needs of one or more zine librarians to attend ZLuC, please consider donating to the ZLuC BIPOC Travel Grant. The travel grant is a no-strings attached yearly tradition that has allowed several zine librarians of color to attend ZLuC without worrying about finances. Send donations via Paypal to juliahuddleston [at] gmail [dot] com (specify “ZLuC Travel Grant” in the comments). If you’d prefer to contribute without using Paypal, please email that address to coordinate an alternate method of payment. Thanks for considering!

flyer with photo of the Golden Gate bridge and an announcement that the 2023 Zine Librarian unConference will be held in San Francisco

Zine Libraries and Collections online panel

This event was originally scheduled for October 2022 but was rescheduled due to a strike.

Spineless Wonders is a network of artists, writers, academics and librarians, creating and researching small press publications including artists books, based in the Slade School of Fine Art at University College London (UCL). On Friday February 10, they’ll be hosting an all-day event titled Spineless Wonders: The Zine, Type And Script, consisting of in-person and virtual sessions. An online panel discussion titled “Zines: In/Out: The Institutional Dilemma: Zine Libraries and Collections” will happen at 1:30 pm London time:

As institutions, libraries and archives follow sets of rules for access, development, and description of their collections. Increasingly, libraries and archives are collecting zines – do-it-yourself, short-run publications created and distributed outside mainstream channels. This panel is made up of library and archive workers who have developed and organised zine collections in a range of institutions. The session will have four short presentations followed by discussion and will consider the ethics, challenges, and joys of zines in library and archive settings.

The chair is Kirsty Fife (researcher into digital information and curating, Manchester Metropolitan University) and speakers will be Holly Casio (Queer Zine Library), Kyle Gibbens (Queer Zine Library), Nicola Cook (Wellcome Library), and Tavian Hunter (Stuart Hall Library at Iniva). There will also be an online tour of the Manchester Poetry Library.

Zine Libraries and Collections online panel

screenshot of Zines event on October 21st at University College London, featuring a photo illustration of the stapled spines of zinesSpineless Wonders is a network of artists, writers, academics and librarians, creating and researching small press publications including artists books, based in the Slade School of Fine Art at University College London (UCL). On Friday October 21, they’ll be hosting an all-day event titled Zines: Reading, Preserving, Making, consisting of in-person and virtual sessions. An online panel discussion titled “Zines: In/Out: The Institutional Dilemma: Zine Libraries and Collections” will happen at 11:45 am London time:

As institutions, libraries and archives follow sets of rules for access, development, and description of their collections. Increasingly, libraries and archives are collecting zines – do-it-yourself, short-run publications created and distributed outside mainstream channels. This panel is made up of library and archive workers who have developed and organised zine collections in a range of institutions. The session will have four short presentations followed by discussion and will consider the ethics, challenges, and joys of zines in library and archive settings.

The chair is Kirsty Fife (researcher into digital information and curating, MMU) and speakers will be Holly Casio (Queer Zine Library), Kyle Gibbens (Queer Zine Library), Nicola Cook (Wellcome Library), and Tavian Hunter (Stuart Hall Library at Iniva). There will also be an online tour of the Manchester Poetry Library and Gloria Kiconco’s exhibition ‘Queering the Form’.