June 9th marked the launch of the South Side Zine Library, located within the Richard J Daley Branch of the Chicago Public Library (3400 S Halsted St in Bridgeport). The new library is a partnership between Chicago Public Library, Quimby’s Bookstore, Zine Club Chicago. Founded by Cynthia Hanifin, the library got an excellent kickoff with readings, zine making, and a punk a capella performance.

Really enjoyed this insight into the zine collection at the Asia Art Archive (AAA) in Hong Kong. In the article “Hong Kong zine librarian Sam Chao on the importance of keeping an accessible archive,” Kelly Ho of the Hong Kong Free Press describes the collection, of which 70% is created by artists based in Hong Kong. The collection includes what is likely the city’s first official zine catalogue. The Zine Librarians Code of Ethics also gets a shoutout.

Be sure to check out all four parts of the Hong Kong Free Press series on Hong Kong’s zine scene.

An article in Vassar College’s student newspaper by Luke Jenkins, “Library hosts Research Zine event,” highlights the library’s zine collection. Their recent “Zines For Research” event helps students see the potential for using zines in research projects and theses. Always great to see a Cats Hate Cops mention!!

Lovely to see a big celebration of twenty years of the zine collection at Barnard College! The article “Wild Words: The Zine Movement at Barnard Turns 20” has info about the idea behind the Barnard Zine Library and the Barnard Zine Collective, both started by zine librarian Jenna Freedman.

The first Reed Zine Fest, to be held March 30, 2024, was organized by Reed College (Portland, Oregon) librarians Ann Matsushima Chiu and Chlöe Van Stralendorff. An article in the Reed College magazine, Risograph Dreams by Megan Burbank, highlights their work coordinating the fest and offering other tools like a risograph machine and zine-making kits. If you’re in the Portland, Oregon area, go check out the new zine fest to support their work!

Here’s a new collection that I’d missed when it was first announced in October: the new Pagan Zines Collection at San Diego State University. The blog post Exploring Paganism Through A New Zine Collection by Rebecca Williamson describes the collection:

The Pagan Zines also augment SDSU’s larger collection of materials regarding spirituality and religion. This new collection consists of periodicals and books published primarily in the United Kingdom and Europe during the 1980s and 1990s. It represents a wide range of strands within the pagan movement, including Wicca, Druidry, Asatru, Heathenism, Slavic Native Faith, Finnic Native Faith, and similar movements. Topics include cultural history, archaeology, anthropology, folklore, and current events.

Always exciting to see a new zine collection! Zine librarian Alice is starting the Autonomous Zine Library, a mobile zine library that is autonomous of any parent organization. Patrons can receive a library card, check out zines, and return zines by snail mail or by dropping them off at select local businesses.

Zines will be collected by donation, highlighting these topics:

• Los Angeles
• Politics
• History
• Mental health
• Music
• Punk & subculture
• Arts & crafts
• Nature & environmental justice

If you’re in the area, be sure to keep an eye on the website for future events!

Very cool to see this Westfield News article about the work zine librarian Anna Boutin-Cooper is doing to host zine workshops relating to disabled community members in Westfield, Massachusetts. The article, Westfield State librarian’s zine workshops focus on disability community by Mike Lydick, describes the $10,000 award she received from the Radical Librarian Institute (part of the California Rare Book School at UCLA) to fund the workshops and a $40 gift card for zine creators contributing to the Disabled Community Zine.