What is a Zine?

Zines are broadly self-published, DIY, not-for-profit booklets, pamphlets or magazines. Zines are part of a broader (global) landscape of self-publishing and participatory media (that’s media where there’s not a clear line between creator/audience) being used for personal, political and creative aims. We take a fairly flexible approach when considering whether something is “zine-enough” for our collection - what’s important to us is whether it’s grounded in DIY values and not-for-profit self-publishing.

A zine library is simply a collection of zines!

How do I submit my zines?

You can submit your zines via post or in person. Please check out the submit page here for more details.

Do you accept older zines?

We mostly collect contemporary zines. This is for two reasons: a) we don’t have the resources or skills to archive older zines, and b) we need the permission of the original maker to include a zine in the collection, and unless that’s you it’s too much work for us to track them down! That said, if you really want to include your own older zines in the collection then get in touch. Equally, if you have a collection of older zines you’re trying to find a home for, get in touch and we can point you in the direction of some other rad zine archives.

I want to run a zine-making workshop for my organisation. Can you facilitate it?

We love running zine workshops for organisations! We have a lot of experience in running zine workshops for a variety of organisations and for diverse audiences. Please read through our event and workshop information here.

How can I get involved with the zine library?

We are a completely volunteer-run organisation and are always looking for people to join our team. Because we are completely voluntary, there are no fixed hours or responsibilities and you will be an equal member of the team from day one. You can find out how to get involved here.

Early 2022 we will be on the hunt specifically for anyone interested in helping us our first zine festival. So please get in contact if this sounds like something you want to be a part of!

I want to work for the zine library, do you have any paid positions?

No, we are entirely volunteer led and run and we do not have any paid positions ever.

I’ve submitted a zine, but can’t find it in the collection. Where is it?

Firstly, thank you for submitting your zine, we can assure you it is being kept safe. Secondly, we are a volunteer run organisation, which means we are not able to catalogue zines as quickly as we would like. We have a received a huge number of zines since we opened three years ago and due to changes in our cataloguing system and the pandemic, it has been hard to keep up with the huge number we receive.

That being said, we are working hard to get zines catalogued and in the library. If you are very concerned about your zine, please get in touch and we will try to let you know if we have received it.

Where is the zine library?

The zine library is currently homeless :( You can read more about why here.