What’s great about Timberland part 3 (celebrating National Library Week)

3. We do Zines. And therefore, we do local.

For about two years now at the Olympia Timberland Library, there has been a zine collection:

Reference Librarian Kelsey Smith is sharing her love for zines in a big way.
After months of diligent organizing by Smith and zine-loving allies, a new zine collection was brought into circulation at the Olympia Timberland Library this past Spring. Zines can be checked out for three weeks at a time. For more information on the collection, write to zines@trlib.org or stop by the library’s reference desk at 313 8th Ave. SE.

What is a zine? Wikipedia says:

A zine (an abbreviation of the word fanzine, or magazine; pronounced /ˈziːn/ “zeen”) is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier on a variety of colored paper stock.

A popular definition includes that circulation must be 5,000 or less, although in practice the significant majority are produced in editions of less than 100, and profit is not the primary intent of publication.

To me this is awesome because zines are an important part of Olympia DIY culture and creating a collection of them 1) acknowledges the importance of the local and 2) preserves this important cultural resource.

At Olympia, they also do zine events (here and here).

Here’s a link from I Love Libraries on National Library Week.