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Alternative press featuring stylistic font and layered photographs

Zine Reading Suggestions

It's the 16th annual Alt Press Fest! Meet inspiring creatives from Utah's Zine/DIY-publishing community. Stop by the Main Library on October 19, 12–5pm, to browse the zine tables and try out activities, workshops, and panel discussions.

ZINE COLLECTION

The City Library has more than 1,000 zines in its collection, and it has celebrated zines with Alt Press Fest since 2006. The collection was started by Julie Bartel and the collection has been maintained by librarians like Brook Young, Rachel Getts, and Pablo Abarca. The collection aims to provide a space for alternative press that otherwise would be undermined by more popular mainstream media sources. This brings different narratives and information access to communities. 

SUBMIT A ZINE

If you would like to submit a zine for consideration to the library’s collection, bring a copy of your zine to any of the locations that house the Zine Library:

  • Main Library
  • Day-Riverside Branch
  • Marmalade Branch
  • Sweet Branch
  • Sprague Branch

Submit your zine to a librarian. At the Main Library, submit your zine via the Level 2 donation box.

HISTORY OF ZINES

What is a zine, you say? Well, it's usually an 8½ x 11-inch sheet folded into a little pocket booklet, or sometimes it’s a fully illustrated comic with the look and feel of a commercially published book. So, the format of a zine can vary. The main thing about a zine is that it is usually done by one person or small group, and they are self-publishing information that is either for a small niche community or touching on alternative topics and opinions. Some zines continue a DIY feel or aesthetic look, but really any published work can be a zine as long as the creator intends it to be. 


Historically, zines have been used as a platform by marginalized communities, cultures, sexuality, and alternative forms of arts, to share information. Zines — short for “magazines” — have appeared in various forms since 1517. Modern zines first appeared in the 1920s and have evolved through the decades. In today’s zine era, communities that revolve around music, art, and culture are expressed through alternative forms of press, hence the name Alt Press Fest. 

SOURCE: Cornell University Library, 8/10/2023, Zines: 101 History and Culture 

SCHEDULE
SAT, OCT 19, 2024
12–5PM

12:30–1:15PM - Meet the Marriott Library Zine Collection
Meeting Room A, B, and C
Library faculty from the Marriott Library at the University of Utah will discuss the history of the zine, how the collection at the Marriott was curated, and how to make your own zine. Come browse samples from the collection, learn how you can check them out, and make your own zine!

1:30–2:30PM - Cut, Paste, & Copy: a Brief History of the City Library Zine Collection
Meeting Rooms A, B, and C
Join former SLCPL librarian, Julie Bartel, and current Glendale Branch manager, Brooke Young, as they take a look back at the Library’s zine collection and how it took shape.

2:45–3:45PM - Artist Panel
Auditorium
Join us as we chat with some of APF’s tabling artists about their art, their process, and the library!

ONGOING ACTIVITIES

12–5PM - Make with the Creative Lab!
Creative Lab
Visit the Library’s Creative Lab table to make a tote bag. Use one of our designs or create your own! While supplies last.

12–5PM - Voter Registration
HeadCount Table
Visit the HeadCount table to get help with voter registration.