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What's a Zine?

Zines are handmade, self-published small magazines. They are usually photocopied for distribution, but each copy may include its own unique attachment, such as a picture, bookmark, or drawing. Zines cover a wide range of topics and create a quick and easy avenue for their creators to express their thoughts, ideas, and feelings that might otherwise not be represented by the mainstream. Zines are usually a not for profit publication and are often not explicitly copyrighted since it is the belief of many zine creators that they should be freely distributed.

Why a Zine Collection at the iSchool Library?

The Library Workers Zine Collection at the iSchool Library was started by Alycia Sellie as a practicum project in spring 2006. Upon its inauguration into the iSchool (then "SLIS") Library, Alycia commented that the collection will:

... provide the students of the School of Library and Information Studies with a collection of alternative print publications that can reflect and share the experiences of librarians and library workers in their daily lives and also in interests outside of librarianship. We strive to make our collection show the broad range and diversity in the lives of librarians and their experiences as real people both within and outside of the library. Through the SLIS Library Workers Zine Collection, we strive to show a perspective of library workers that is not presented in mainstream library literature. We hope that through this collection we can inspire future librarians to express themselves through zines or to consider having collections of zines or other alternative, independent or underground literature in their future libraries.

The Library Workers Zine Collection has grown substantially since its inception and now houses more than 40 zines. The zines range in content from collections of poetry, short stories, and articles to informative publications about zine fests, book and film reviews, library collections, and bibliographic citation guides. All of the zines are beautifully decorated and illustrated with original artwork and reclaimed images. Periodically, the collection is utilized by students for course projects, such as cataloguing non-traditional publications and creating metadata for digital preservation of zines online. In Fall 2013, a group of students from Jonathan Senchyne's LIS 861 Information Architecture course-- Erin Anthony, Oliver Bendorf, Jackie Lang, and Jamie Stanaway-- created a digital collection for the zines.

Please stop by the Information School Laboratory Library to enjoy this unique collection of library worker zines.