Over on Ye Olde Yahoo email list, librarian Mimosa Shah recently shared a collaborative zine (created by Jason Alderman, Elizabeth Bouton, Rachel Ropeik, Mimosa Shah, and Beck Tench) created for MCN 2018 (the annual conference of the Museum Computer Network). It’s titled DIYempathiZINE and consists of empathy building activities to use in a library or museum. Check out the free pdf and print off a copy to use in your institution!
click for pdf
Get ready for International Zine Month 2019! Every year, zinester Alex Wrekk (founder of IZM and author of Stolen Sharpie Revolution) creates a flyer that highlights zine-related activities to do each day in July. July 21 is Zine Library Day, traditionally observed by visiting your nearest zine library/archive and by purchasing pastries for your favorite zine librarian.
Check out this year’s flyer, available for download, and use the hashtag #IZM2019 to share your celebrations!
click for printable version
London-based zine librarian Holly Casio writes about being a resident at Asia Art Archive, and shares thoughts on the ethics of zine librarianship as performed by large organizations flirting with DIY culture. Holly also talks about being inspired by artists and activists authentically engaging with libraries and archives.
Episode 48 of Unladylike podcast (“How to Zine It Yourself”) features the zinesters Isabel Ann Castro and Natasha I Hernandez of St. Sucia Zine, as well as Jenna Freedman of the Barnard Zine Library.
Cristen and Caroline share their thoughts on having a zine collection at a library: “That was an inspiring thing about being at the library and being surrounded by what basically looked like pieces of copier stapled together, but being in a ‘real library’ and around the corner from literally the classics, Jenna’s telling the world by having this collection that these zines are just as valuable as all those other books and all those other ways of knowing.”
The perennial question: “are zines going mainstream??” is asked in a new article from alternative news publication OK Whatever. Journalist Jessie Schiewe’s article, “Zines Are Popping Up in Public Libraries Across the U.S.,” provides perspectives from professor of media and culture Stephen Duncombe as well as librarians Agatha Burstein (Olympia Timberland Library), Jenna Freedman (Barnard College), Tim Devin (Somerville Public Library), and Ziba Perez Zehdar (Long Beach Public Library).
For those who have been curious about the status of the ZAPP (Zine Archive and Publishing Project) collection at the Seattle Public Library, this status report published in the Seattle Review of Books features photos and information about where things stand now:Â https://seattlereviewofbooks.com/notes/2019/02/05/it-s-been-a-long-long-time.
Derek Potts, zine librarian at DePaul University’s Special Collections and Archives, was featured in this Chicago Magazine article, “Why Anthony Rayson, Anarchist Grandpa, Sends Zines to Prison.”
Zines have long been a way for marginalized communities to record their stories and organize. Zine libraries are making sure those histories aren’t forgotten.
“How Zine Libraries Are Highlighting Marginalized Voices” is an excellent BuzzFeed article by Rosie Knight features zine librarians Jenna Freedman, Alana LaBeaf, Dawn Wing, zinester Zahra Swanzy, and art historian Marissa Del Toro discussing the power of zines.
Michigan State University has an extensive collection of zines, and many of them are on display on the new punk exhibit in MSU Libraries Special Collections. Exhibit curator Joshua Barton describes the zeitgeist of punk zines and highlights the uniqueness of the collection in this article from the Lansing City Pulse.
Ingrid, one of the folks who helps run the Salford Zine Library in England, has a great post up about zine librarianship. She discusses issues that come in a zine library and the approaches the volunteer staff take in addressing those issues, which are informed by but can be different than those in traditional libraries.
In this post Ingrid touches on digitization, cataloging, and the broad concern about respecting and seeking out zinesters’ consent in having very personal material available within a public space. Looking forward to reading more of Ingrid’s thoughts as the SZL volunteers thoughtfully contend with these important considerations.
Once again the time is upon us to commemorate International Zine Library Day, observed every July 21st! Read more about the event and figure out a great way to celebrate, whether by visiting your local zine library, donating your zines to a library that collects zines, or sharing your thanks with those who make zine libraries happen. Find a zine library near you using Barnard Zine Library’s worldwide list. Use hashtag #IZM2018 to follow along with all the International Zine Month events.
A heartfelt thank you to all the zine library workers out there who help to make zines accessible to everyone in a myriad of different ways. Please be sure to take time to treat yourself today!
The Washington Post‘s The Lily recently published a 22-page zine in celebration of its first anniversary, and Lily digital editor Ashley Nguyen talked to a number of zine librarians and enthusiasts to talk about what zines mean to them and why libraries collect zines. Zine librarians consulted include:
Take a moment to check out the article and the great list of some of the contributors’ favorite zines from their libraries’ collections!
Librarian Kate Kitchens’s most recent zine is “Librarian field notes : a zine on queer outreach ideas, reflection, and a perfect cat named Trout.” She wrote about the zine in ALA’s Intersections blog in January 2018. Kate describes the zine as “a guide for librarians who want to provide services to support their queer patrons but don’t know where to start or find it too daunting of a task,” as well as “for librarians who are seeking to better understand queer communities and their unique needs.”
You can view the zine online or contact Kate to get a printable version!
Volume 43, Special Issue 2 (April 2018) of Art Libraries Journal is dedicated entirely to zine library collections in the United Kingdom. The issue’s articles include:
“Each according to their ability : Zine librarians talking about their community,” written by Jude Vachon, Kelly Wooten, Kelly McElroy, and Violet Fox, was published as a chapter in The Politics of Theory and the Practice of Critical Librarianship, edited by Karen P. Nicholson and Maura Seale (Library Juice Press, 2018). The chapter is a reflective, informal discussion between the four long-time zine librarians, sharing how theory and practice work together in zine librarianship in ways informed by the human connections and sense of responsibility we feel towards our resources and each other. Topics discussed include the Zine Librarians Code of Ethics, zine cataloging, and feminist pedagogy.