library zine action

Last week, I was writing a proposal for The Chicago Research Summit, a bit of library related writing, and we'll see how it fares.  I focused on some of the work with zines we've been doing--the zine nights, the 1st floor exchange, our resource guides and the zines in the classroom workshop (which will hopefully be happening again this fall). How we're seeking ways to take those things out into the communiy via things like Zine Fest and pointing students toward things like the Read/Write Library and Quimby's (where, incidently, I once stood in front of a rack of chapbooks and thought to myself, hey, I can do this!)  And of course, the Little Indie Press fest.

While many of our panel discussions have touched on zines--whether it be the Art Empire one, where many of the artists can be found at Zine Fest, or the lit-focused one, which celebrated independent publishing in general, I'm hoping to round up maybe a zine-specific panel this fall leading up to Indie Press Fest. While attendance at our zine nights have been on the low end (at most 4 or 5, sometimes 1), we have had good results (including the above, which may be one of my favorite zine finds ever.)

I want to dig in a bit on the possibilities of zines for teaching as well, as both tool and an excellent way for students to present research and information in a creative way.  If things like Zine Fest have taught me anything, its that print culture at this level is thriving just fine.