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 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’.