My Visit to Bitch Community Lending Library

As a longtime reader of Bitch Magazine, I knew the publication had a lending library at its headquarters in Portland, Oregon. This week, I checked it out.
 

Bitch Community Lending Library.
Photo by the author of this blog

The Portland chapter of Radical Reference helped establish Bitch Community Lending Library, which opened on July 30, 2009. At that time, the lending library had "800+ books on feminist theory, media studies, sociology, gender and queer studies, pop culture, and more," according to an online announcement made by Reading Frenzy, an "Independent Press Emporium" that is also based in Portland. Today, according to the lending library's web page, it "holds over 2,500 books, zines, magazines, and DVDs that explore feminism, media studies, pop culture, queer studies, race studies, sex and sexuality, body image, and much more."
 

Approaching Bitch Media HQ, where the lending library is located.
Photo by the author of this blog

The lending library is located at 4930 NE 29th Avenue, just off of NE Alberta Street, in a happening section of North Portland. (If you're using public transit to get to the lending library, the number 72 bus will drop you off at NE Alberta Street and NE 27th Avenue, just a couple short blocks away.) Turning the corner onto NE 29th Avenue, I saw the building that houses Bitch Media, which publishes Bitch Magazine and operates the lending library, looks pretty much like any other residence on the block. What distinguishes it, however, is the "Bitch Media" sign posted above the entrance. The front entrance was not locked, and there was no other measure of security, so I was able to easily walk in off the street.
 

Heading upstairs toward Bitch Community Lending Library on the 2nd Floor.
Photo by the author of this blog

Entering 4930 NE 29th Avenue, I was faced with a somewhat steep, carpeted stairwell that went straight to the second floor of the building. At the top of the stairs, I found myself in the open doorway of the Bitch Community Lending Library. The main, front room of the lending library made me think of a waiting room of a private practice - calm and quiet, with everything tidied and in its proper place, and with soft, slightly used furniture to sit on - but much cozier, brighter, and airier. Dim sunlight filled the room, around which were vintage touches, like antique lamps and retro-patterned pillows, and green, leafy, flourishing plants. All in all, the lending library was very welcoming, despite no one immediately coming out to greet me or otherwise see who was poking around.
 

A selection of books at Bitch Community Lending Library.
Photo by the author of this blog

I was pleased to see an impressive range of books, meticulously labeled and arranged on the shelves, allowing them to be located easily. The shelves themselves were clearly labeled, making obvious the genre of books that you're browsing. The genres of books available for lending include Feminist Activism, Feminist Theory, Cultural Criticism, Reproductive Rights, and Parenting. At the end of one of the bookshelves is a large plastic bin labeled "FREE." Opening it, I saw back issues of magazines such as Utne Reader, Mother Jones, Curve, and The Advocate; there were also zines, comics, books, DVDs, and CDs, all in good condition. Rooting through this box, I made out like a bandit.
 

Personal zines ("perzines") among the zines on display at the lending library.
Photo by the author of this blog

Looking at the zines available for lending, I saw a wide variety as well. Displayed on a revolving rack by the entrance of the library, the zines are quite diverse, covering a range of interests. There are zines focusing on health issues, as well as personal zines ("perzines"), which are zines that relate personal stories. Queer zines were on display, as were zines on parenting. Bitch Community Lending Library accepts donations of "zines made by and for feminist thinkers, activists, and fans, though they don't have to be 'grrrl zines' per se. Whether your zines were Xeroxed back in 1992 or just last month, we'd love to have them."
 

Bitch Community Lending Library is a donation site for Books to Patients PDX.
Photo by the author of this blog

In addition to items that you can take home with you, Bitch Community Lending Library has bins in which you can drop stuff off. Specifically, there is a plastic crate into which you can place books and other reading materials that will be donated to Books to Patients PDX. Books to Patients PDX is "a volunteer-run organization in Portland, Oregon, that provides donations of reading materials to people living with mental health issues in institutionalized settings because a book, at the right moment, can change a life - and everyone deserves access to books," states the organization in a flier posted above the donation crate. For more on Books to Patients PDX, whether you want additional information or would like to host or coordinate a donation side, contact the organization at BooksToPatientsPDX@gmail.com.

Bitch Community Lending Library is open Monday through Friday, from 9am to 5pm. Visits to the lending library are by appointment only; appointments can be made online, but it is still wise to call ahead (503-282-5699) in order to confirm your appointment before you arrive. If you wish to check out items from the lending library, all you need is a photo ID, which gets you ongoing membership. Members of Bitch Community Lending Library can take out five items at time over the course of a month. If you're curious about what the lending library holds, you can browse the collection's online catalog that is hosted by LibraryThing.com.

Ekstrom Library Home to Underground Music Archive

What began as a donation of local zines has become an archive documenting the 1980s and '90s punk, hardcore, and indie rock scenes in Louisville, Kentucky.

Image via louisville.edu

The Louisville Underground Music Archive got its start in 2011, when Ekstrom Library at the University of Louisville accepted vintage sets of two local zines: Burt the Cat and Hard Times. Processing them, archivist Carrie Daniels at Ekstrom Library's Archives and Special Collections recognized fellow archivist Heather Fox on the cover of one of the zines. Fox, a musician active in the local scene, was working at the Filson Historical Society in Louisville. Daniels contacted Fox, who in turn contacted the publisher of Burt the Cat, Paul Curry, who donated additional issues, enabling Ekstrom Library to house the complete run of Burt and fill major gaps in the run of Hard Times. It was then that Daniels and Fox began to consider building a more comprehensive archive of Louisville's rock scenes. 

The push to create a comprehensive collection gained momentum with the 2012 death of Jason Nobel, member of the Louisville bands Rodan, Rachel's, and Shipping News, and the 2013 death of Jon Cook, member of the bands Rodan, Crain, and Cerebellum. "We started losing members of the music scene, and that really brought things to a head," Daniels said in an interview with WFPL, a Louisville radio station. "We realized we had to start collecting now; it had to be more than a cool idea. Because material was going to get lost. If the flyers get lost, if the music gets lost, if the set lists disappear, then an essential part of the scene is lost forever." The Louisville Underground Music Archive, or LUMA, was officially formed. Archivists Sarah-Jane Poindexter and Elizabeth Reilly, both interested in Louisville's local music scenes, came on board to help build LUMA.

LUMA is actively archiving items from Louisville's 1980s and '90s music scenes.
Image via louisville.edu

Right now, Daniels and her colleagues are actively seeking donations to LUMA. These can include personal papers and correspondence, business records, set lists, photographs, flyers, posters, original artwork, albums and other recorded music, videotaped shows, T-shirts, buttons, zines, newsletters, stickers, and any other ephemera related to the punk, hardcore, and indie rock scenes in Louisville, Kentucky, in the 1980s and '90s. Fan mail is also welcome. Talking to WFPL, archivist Poindexter said, "The Rachel's, for instance, donated their materials here. It covers their process of creating music as well as the artwork and packaging, their press release, their tour information, how they planned their tour and executive it, as well as fan mail."

In housing the Louisville Underground Music Library, the University of Louisville joins other academic institutions that have decided to collect the artifacts of independent music scenes, including New York University with its Riot Grrrl Collection and George Washington University with its D.C. Punk Rock Collection. According to the LUMA website, "Generally speaking, records of popular culture of this type are underrepresented in archives, putting this history at risk for loss." By accepting and preserving these records, these university archives can help keep the memories of these scenes alive for those who created and participated in them, as well as educate those who weren't part of those scenes but want to know about them.

"Ultimately, the goal of this collecting is to make it freely available to the community and researchers in general, and to preserve it for future generations," says the Louisville Underground Music Archive website. In the meantime, LUMA is eagerly accepting donations. "We are interested in taking anything and everything related to the music scene, things that people won't even think could be useful to an archive, Reilly told WFPL. "Every little piece tells the bigger story."

For more on the Louisville Underground Music Archive (LUMA), go HERE and HERE. If you would like to donate materials to the archive, send LUMA an email message at: luma@louisville.edu. Also, like LUMA on Facebook at THIS LINK.

Teen-Services Librarian Also a Punk-Drag Activist

"If you told me at eighteen that I would want to be a librarian, I would have said that you were crazy," Wick Thomas told Library Journal, which in March selected Thomas as one of its Movers & Shakers for the year 2014.
 

Wick Thomas sees a career as an advocate in the stacks.
Photo by Sabrina Staires for The Pitch

Thomas works at the Kansas City Public Library in Kansas City, Missouri, where he handles teen services, which includes organizing teen gaming events and other programs. He also does outreach to area high schools. Among his outreach projects is Unheard Voices, a teen literary and art zine that featured the work of about 30 local teenagers in its first edition. Started with the help of young library users in the summer of 2013, Unheard Voices is now distributed to schools and libraries throughout Kansas City. Speaking to Library Journal, Thomas said, "The zine has been an amazing success."

In addition to his work in teen services at the Kansas City Public Library, Thomas is also a self-proclaimed punk-drag activist. While still in high school in rural Missouri, he founded his school's chapter of the Gay-Straight Alliance, which is a student-led organization that provides a safe, accepting, and supportive space for gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, and questioning students at school. In college, he served as the president of the University of Missouri-Kansas City Queer Alliance. 

Today, Thomas is president of Empowering Queer Activists and Leaders (EQUAL), which offers activist and leadership training. However, he is currently "terming out of office for EQUAL," he told The Pitch. An alternative newspaper that is "Kansas City's leading source of sophisticated information," The Pitch recently interviewed Thomas about his life, his activism, and his library work. In the interview, which is in a breezy, easy-to-read questionnaire format, Thomas addresses the following:

Soapbox issues: "We have to support access to public services, protect public education, and move toward universal health care."

Brush with fame: "I was backstage at the True Colors tour and got to dance onstage with Cyndi Lauper during "Girls Just Want to Have Fun," met my idol Joan Jett, made friends with Margaret Cho, sang the finale onstage with Erasure and the B-52's, and then drank with the Blackhearts afterward. That was a good day."

Recent triumph: "I am on the March cover of Library Journal for the work I am doing in the library world. I get to help decide which book will receive the Stonewall Book Award this year and have some really exciting partnerships coming up with local schools and governments. Outside of that, I am terming out of office for EQUAL, a youth empowerment nonprofit that I helped found, and am incredibly proud of the work being done by the young people I've mentored."

For more of The Pitch interview with Wick Thomas, go to THIS LINK. He is truly a Mover & Shaker, as recognized by Library Journal, and is definitely someone to keep an eye on.

Have Book, Will Travel

Twenty-fourteen is looking like it will be a year of travel for me. I'll be attending at least one national library conference, and I may be spending some time North of the Border over the summer. By year's end, I hope to see at least three U.S. cities. I'm truly excited about exploring more of the country and the world. 

Image via http://www.abeautifulmess.com

No matter what town I visit, I'll be sure to seek out its independent bookstores, used bookstores, and comic stores, in addition to its usual tourist attractions. And if there's a local zine library, I would try to check that out, too. But what other literary attractions would be of interest to a book lover like myself who's keen to travel? Book Riot has the answers.

Book Riot is pointing out places of interest to traveling bibliophiles in its new series, Literary Tourism. With the first installment posted on October 27, 2013, starting with the city of Fredericton, New Brunswick, Literary Tourism is highlighting scholarly hotspots across North America (so far). Already, Book Riot has given the tour guide treatment to Portland, Oregon; Austin, Texas; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Atlanta, Georgia, in addition to Fredericton, NB.

Being that Portland and Austin are two cities I hope to visit, Book Riot's Literary Tourism pieces are right on time. Now I know that while in Portland, I should stop by Cosmic Monkey Comics and Bitch Magazine's lending library in addition to Powell's City of Books and In Other Words, the latter gaining notoriety for being the location of the fictitious women's bookstore in the television sketch-comedy show Portlandia. And while in Austin, I'll know to go to BookWoman and Austin Books & Comics in addition to Book People.

Literary Tourism not only points out bookstores and libraries, but it also recommends restaurants, coffee shops, and bars where book lovers will feel right at home. Of course, cultural attractions are also mentioned, such as the Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden and the Wordstock festival in Portland and the O. Henry Museum and Texas Book Festival in Austin.

For more on what to see and do as a well-read traveler, get to Book Riot's Literary Tourism site at THIS LINK. No passport required.

The 10 Best Books for Young Feminists

At a book festival last year, I bought Rookie Yearbook One, edited by Tavi Gevinson. I had heard about Rookie, the online magazine for teenage girls that Gevinson started in 2011 to fill the gaping void left by the absence of Sassy, the late '80s/early '90s glossy that spoke to girls about sex and sexuality, politics and activism, current events and more without being coy or condescending.

"Our content respects a kind of intelligence in the readers that right now a lot of writing about teenage girls doesn't," Gevinson told the New York Times in 2011. Indeed, Rookie has gone on to cover street harassment, transgenderism, bodily functions such as menstruation, drug and alcohol abuse, surviving in a small town, coming out, and being biracial while also featuring interviews with Aubrey Plaza, John Waters, Joss Whedon, David Sedaris, Daniel Clowes and others, and how-tos on zine making, thrift store shopping, and more.

The best of Rookie's online content has been gathered in Rookie Yearbook One, published in 2012 by Drawn & Quarterly. Flipping through it at the book festival and later in the comfort of my home, I caught myself smiling at the clever, self-aware writing and being thankful that teenage girls today have a publication that speaks to them intelligently about weighty matters and encourages them to be whole human beings. For this reason, I'm not surprised that Rookie Yearbook One is among "The 10 Best Books of the Year for Young Feminists" as determined by the Amelia Bloomer Project, which is part of the American Library Association.

In addition to Rookie Yearbook One, other books the Amelia Bloomer Project picked as being among the best for young feminists include A Little F'd Up: Why Feminism Is Not a Dirty Word, by Julie Zellinger; Grace and Grit: My Fight for Equal Pay and Fairness at Goodyear and Beyond, by Lilly Ledbetter; Dolores Huerta: A Hero to Migrant Workers, by Sarah E. Warren; and Womanthology: Heroic, by various authors. These books and five more were selected for their significant feminist content, excellence in writing, appealing format, and age appropriateness for young readers.

To see all 10 of the best books for today's young feminists, go to THIS LINK.

* Above image from rookiemag.com

Riot Grrrl Archive to Be Published in Book Form

Since 2010, NYU's Bobst Library has been home to the Riot Grrrl Collection, "an attempt to document the evolution of the Riot Grrrl movement, particularly in the years between 1989 and 1996," according to the collection's home page. 

Image from http://pitchfork.com

Much more than a zine repository, the collection contains flyers, posters, photos, correspondence, journals, notebooks, artwork, audio and video recordings, and other items created by those active in riot grrrl, the largely white and young punk feminist movement that grew out of cities like Washington, D.C., and Olympia, Washington. Bands like Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, and Heavens to Betsy combined music and politics in a way that infected and inspired legions of high school- and college-aged women, forcefully shaking them out of their suburban stupor.

The Riot Grrrl Collection, housed in the Fales Library & Special Collections room in Bobst Library, has generated plenty of publicity since its 2010 debut. Still most people who are interested in the collection are unable to come to New York City to access the primary source materials in person. So the Feminist Press, an independent nonprofit literary publisher that promotes freedom of expression and social justice, is putting out a book featuring reproductions of some of these source materials for a wider audience to appreciate.

Lisa Darms, senior archivist at Fales Library & Special Collections, NYU.
Image from twtrland.com

In an interview with NYU Local, Lisa Darms, the senior archivist who created the Riot Grrrl Collection, said the Feminist Press approached her about the book a year and a half ago."It was their idea," Darms told NYU Local. "They heard about the collection and at first we had talked about just being a few zines reproduced in their entirety, and we worked with that idea for a while. When my editor started seeing the material, she was like, 'I want to add pages and you to do more excerpts and get more material out there.'"

Among the items included in the book, which is simply titled The Riot Grrrl Collection, are drafts of lyrics written by Kathleen Hanna (of Bikini Kill) - some for songs that were never finished - and a letter from Tobi Vail (of Bikini Kill) to Molly Neuman (of Bratmobile), sent in 1990 before they had ever met up in person. The Riot Grrrl Collection will be approximately 340 pages of material.

Asked by NYU Local what she wants readers to take away from the book, Darms responded, "I kind of have different agendas. As an archivist, I'm really concerned that it's objective and historically accurate. A part of me want[s] it to be used as a historical document. At the same time, I see it as a manual for teen girls. And then, you know, more generally my goal is to make the collection more accessible. With the book, people anywhere can see the stuff that's here."

According to Lisa Darms, the publication date for The Riot Grrrl Collection is mid-June. (Amazon and the Feminist Press state that the book will be released on May 14, 2013.) The forward was written by Johanna Fateman, who's played in bands The Troublemakers and Le Tigre with Kathleen Hanna.

For more on the book The Riot Grrrl Collection, go HERE and HERE.

A Visit to the Zine Library at VCU

If you love zines and ever find yourself in Richmond, Virginia, you should really swing by Virginia Commonwealth University. The university's James Branch Cabell Library, at 901 Park Avenue, houses a wealth of local and national zines.

VCU's zine library is part of the Special Collections and Archives at Cabell Library.

Photo via Matt Carman on Flickr

Just prior to the Richmond Zine Fest, held earlier this month, the people behind the Brooklyn Zine Fest decided to visit VCU to check out these zines. The zine collection is part of VCU's Special Collections and Archives, located on the fourth floor of Cabell Library. Two smiley librarians, Leila Prasertwaitaya and Celina Williams (who also helped organize the Richmond Zine Fest), gave the people of the Brooklyn Zine Fest a grand tour of the Special Collections and Archives, which, in addition to zines, also includes comics, artist books, and even a sword(!).

Librarians Leila Prasertwaitaya (at left) and Celina Williams are happy to help.
Photo via Matt Carman on Flickr

The zine library at VCU currently encompasses more than 700 zines, which tend to focus on feminist and socio-political issues, art and punk rock topics, and personal/autobiographical matters. Many are also of the mini comic variety. The collection also contains resource materials on the history of underground publishing and ephemera from past Richmond Zine Fests.

Gotta keep things organized! Zine files at Cabell Library's Special Collections and Archives.
Photo via Matt Carman on Flickr

Coinciding with this year's Richmond Zine Fest is an exhibit of the work of Aijung Kim. The creative output of the Richmond-based artist and zine collector will be on display on the fourth floor of Cabell Library until November 2012. 

You can see the zine collection and the Aijung Kim exhibit at Cabell Library Monday through Friday, 9AM to 5PM or by appointment. If you'd like more information on either, you can reach someone at the Special Collections and Archives by email, at libjbcsca@vcu.edu, or by phone, at (804) 828-1108. I'm sure they would love to assist you...and appreciate donations to the zine library!

Representatives from VCU's zine library man a table at this year's Richmond Zine Fest.
Photo via Matt Carman on Flickr

Also look out for zine nights at VCU's Special Collections and Archives. These collaborative workshops on zine making are free and open to the general public.

A Look at Zine Librarianship

If you were a teenager in the 1980s or '90s, then you've likely heard of zines: homemade publications focused on a subject of great personal interest to the producers of the publications. Zines typically come in booklet or magazine form, and traditionally they're produced through the cutting and pasting of articles and graphics, and then photocopied to make final copies for distribution, often at the local or community level.

The Zine Library at the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) in Canada.
Photo: http://blog.ocad.ca/wordpress/learningzone/about/?doing_wp_cron=1341353240

In recent years, academic libraries and public libraries have incorporated zines into their collections. Seeing their value as archival items that give unique insight into often-overlooked segments of society, these institutions have cultivated zine libraries within the larger library with the help of young staff members who already had an interest in zines, whether as makers of zines or as fans of this alternative form of print media.

Curating zines as a zine librarian has never crossed the minds of many library school students. But it's considered one of the "Emerging Careers in Librarianship" by Hack Library School (HLS). In a recent post titled "Zines (Yes, zines!)," HLS explains what zines are, describes how you can become a zine librarian, and interviews two zine librarians: Kelly McElroy, Undergraduate Services Librarian at the University of Iowa, and Jenna Freedman, Director of Research and Instruction at Barnard College.

Barnard College has received press attention for its excellent zine library. So has New York University: it notably augmented its Fales Library holdings with the Riot Grrrl Collection, featuring zines that came out of the punk feminist movement that was most prominent in the early-to-mid 90s. And the zine library at Brooklyn College will soon make its debut. "It's important to be at an institution where you can make the case for zines," said Freedman, who pitched the idea of a zine collection to Barnard.

As one panelist said at ALA 2012 in Anaheim: "Both zines and libraries are reflections and creations of their communities." Bringing the two together as a zine librarian is a career worth looking into.

Barnard Zine Library Is Searchable Online

Since it began in the summer of 2003, the Barnard Zine Library has amassed more than 4,000 individual issues of zines, do-it-yourself publications traditionally produced cut-and-paste style on paper and then photocopied for distribution. The zine library is housed within Barnard Library, located at 3009 Broadway on the campus of Barnard College in New York City. But you don't have to actually show up at this address in order to search the zine library's impressive collection.

The Barnard Zine Library bookshelf.

photo source: library.barnard.edu

In 2004, the Barnard Zine Library's collection became one of the first zine collections in the United States to be catalogued in the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC), making it accessible to anyone with an Internet connection. You can also look for items within the zine library by searching through Barnard Library's online catalog. On its website (http://zines.barnard.edu), in a section titled "Collection Access and Circulation," the Barnard Zine Library clearly illustrates how you can do just that.

Barnard Zine Library * 2011

Collection Access and Circulation

How can I search for zines through Barnard Library's online catalog?

1. Access Columbia Libraries Online Catalog (CLIO).

2. Enter the name of a specific zine, omitting the initial article (a, an, the, el, la, etc...) or conduct a general search by using other keywords.

3. Click on the Title to see the zine's record.

I am looking for a particular zine. Will it be in the catalog?

Many of the zines available are currently in CLIO, but some others have yet to be processed. When in doubt, you can always ask the Zine Librarian.

Keyword search tips:

You can also do a keyword search, combining one of these terms:

"art zine"

"catalog zine"
"compilation zine"
"DIY zine"
fanzines
"literary zines"
mamazines
minicomics
"personal zines"
"political zines"
"school zines"
"split zines"

or just (the question mark is for truncation--it will yield results with the word "zine" or "zines" in the citation or abstract)

For example, and your topic, e.g. "body image," "privilege," "race," "recipes," "riot grrrl" will yield results that are zines of those topics.

Many zines are not yet cataloged, so if you are looking for a particular title or topic that is not in CLIO, please ask for help, or look through our FAQ here.