Did you know zine librarians across the U.S. and beyond will be visiting Minnesota this July 12th through 14th? Minneapolis will be the site of the eleventh Zine Librarians unConference and you are cordially invited!
(Do you need some background information on what zines are, and how they can have a positive impact on your library? Check out this interview we did with Violet in 2016 where she tells us all about them!)
It’s been nine years since the first Zine Librarians unConference (ZLuC) took place in Seattle in 2009—I had just started volunteering with Seattle’s Zine Archive & Publishing Project, and I was delighted to meet so many folks who were excited about talking about zines in libraries. Since then, ZLuC has been held around the country, including Boston, Long Beach, Pittsburgh, Austin, and Portland. This year the site selection committee chose Minneapolis, likely because of the strong zine libraries community that is developing in the Twin Cities and beyond.
The unConference is a multi-day affair that welcomes workers and volunteers from academic, public, and special libraries, as well as community-oriented independent libraries and archives. Like other unconferences, the topics that will be discussed aren’t determined in advance—they’re decided on by the participants during the event. Typical topics covered often include collection development, event programming, teaching with zines, preservation, cataloging, and acquisitions. Previous ZLuCs have resulted in the creation of the Zine Librarians Code of Ethics, collaboration on a variety of projects, idea sharing, and general support for people dealing with the challenges and opportunities of providing access to zines in libraries and archives.
Because there are multiple libraries that collect zines in the Twin Cities area, ZLuC 2018 will be held at three different sites over three days. The afternoon of Thursday July 12 there’ll be a half day of ZLuC at MCTC (Minneapolis Community and Technical College). MCTC’s library has a huge zine collection and a zine lounge area. Friday July 13 there’ll be a full day of ZLuC at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. The UMN Libraries holds the incredible Marshall Weber Culture Wars Zine Collection. And the morning of Saturday July 14 ZLuC will wrap up with another half day at the Hennepin County Library’s beautiful Minneapolis Central Library. HCL is in the process of ramping up their zine collection and will be the host of this year’s Twin Cities Zine Fest in September. Social events for all three evenings will be planned, likely including a free visit to the Walker Art Center and a zinester reading.
Best of all, registration for ZLuC is free. If you’re coming from out of town, there will also be an option for cheap dorm rooms at the University of Minnesota residence halls ($46/person/day for a shared room, $61/person/day for a private room).
Whether you’re thinking of starting a zine collection, planning your first zine workshop, or already considering the nitty-gritty details of maintaining your collection, consider attending one or more days of ZLuC 2018 in Minneapolis! Please get in touch with me (violetfox@gmail.com) if you have any questions.