Librarians Tell All in Zines

By Lauren Barack -- School Library Journal, 4/1/2006

Calling all librarian zinesters—from school and public libraries alike. If you've written a journal about library life, Alycia Sellie wants to know.

Sellie, who is completing her MLS degree, while working at the Wisconsin Historical Society as a librarian's assistant, decided to collect zines created by librarians as part of her practicum. During the past year she has amassed approximately 40 zines, which she hopes will find a home at the University of Wisconsin's School of Library and Information Studies. “They'll be in the library's library,” says Sellie, chuckling. “I thought it would be great to get a broad look at librarians across the field, so that library students could get a glimpse into the life of a professional librarian. They get some insight into their gripes—and what they like about their jobs.”

Sellie herself has authored a couple of zines and also helped launched the Madison Zine Fest, which attracted about 1,000 zinesters last year to the University of Wisconsin's campus, including Denise Aulik.

Aulik, who is also finishing her MLS practicum at the University of Wisconsin, is a high school teacher and self-described “librarian wannabe.” She recently launched a class on zines for her students, which spawned the creation of her own called, “You Obviously Have Me Confused With Someone Who Cares.” “[Zines] struck a chord with me,” Aulik says. “It was the perfect material and perfect format for my students. It's very democratic. Anyone can have paper, scissors, glue, and access to a Xerox machine.”

Aulik's amassed about 600–800 zines, which are dispersed throughout her classroom and school library. It's a semi-serious collection considering that many zinesters have disappeared into the land of blogs. But many librarians who create and collect zines scoff at their online brethren and believe nothing replaces the artistry and craft of a small hand-drawn book.

“I want to see their drawings and handwriting,” says Jenna Freedman, the coordinator of reference services and zine librarian at Barnard College, who started a collection about two years ago after creating two issues of her own zine, “Lower East Side Librarian Winter Solstice Shoutout.” “They're so much better than blogs because they're more personal.”