Media The Seattle Library’s Zine Symposium
posted by on January 25 at 12:26 PM
One of the coolest things that the Seattle Public Library is doing right now is forging a partnership with the Zine Archive and Publishing Project. In order to get to the ZAPP, you have to go around the back of the Richard Hugo House, down some stairs into the basement, and through a room full of tables that are usually strewn with bits of paper and magazines that are being cut up into new zines. Once you are inside, you are surrounded by ceiling-high bookshelves that are full of zines of every possible genre, filed by subject. You can sit in there for hours, listening to whatever music the volunteers are playing, going through the zines one by one and finding new favorites. None are for sale.
This little hidey-hole has been the well-kept secret of Seattle’s young DIY community for far too long. Thankfully, the Seattle Public Library is aiming to create a similar place in its Central Library, by acquiring local independent self-published works and displaying them for anyone to read. They are having a symposium this Sunday to celebrate and inform people about their project. It’s going to be fun! Here’s the schedule:
Zine Symposium,2 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Saturday Jan. 27
@ The Central Library2 p.m. - 3 p.m. Zine 101
Learn how to make a zine or just come
make a new zine buddy. Please e-mail us at
TeenCenter@spl.org to register.3 p.m. - 4 p.m. Zine Panel
Discussion about the cultural, political, and creative
role of zines in our culture.4 p.m. - 5 p.m. Zine Readings
Read from your zine! Please e-mail at
TeenCenter@spl.org to sign up.5 p.m. - 6 p.m. Zine exchange
and Refreshments
Come eat free food and exchange zines. Open to
everyone and anyone.
Free food? Zines? I’m so there.
I hope they can figure out a way to protect this resource from the rockin' goons who have cut up, marked up, or stolen almost every pop-music-related book in their catalog. Most of what's not gone or destroyed is now uncheckoutable reference only. Why are rock'n'roll fans such asswipes?
Are the zines cataloged anywhere?
I am the Seattle Public Library teen librarian helping to pull this program together. Unfortunately, they are not cataloged because cataloging is an expensive, time consuming practice particularly with items that do not already have records. If we had insisted on having the zines cataloged then we would never have been allowed to proceed with getting the collection.
I hear you about cool materials being destroyed; it is a constant frustration for us as well. Hopefully, patrons will be so awed by the coolness of hand made zines that they will respect them. We can only hope.
I really do encourage anyone and everyone to come down to the festivities or come browse the new collection at The Central Library. E-mail me if you have any thoughts, or questions Jennifer.bisson@spl.org
I understand these things aren't going to be in OCLC, and good luck trying to date them accurately; but at least a name index would be nice. Are they from all over the world, and all eras, or are they all newish Seattle ones?
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