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 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.