Reed Zine Library Prepares for Upcoming Zine Fest
By Louis Chase
The Reed Zine Library has spent the past two months gearing up for the first Reed Zine Fest, to take place on March 30 from 11:00am-4:00pm in Kaul Auditorium. On Thursday, February 29, the Zine Library held a screening of the 2003 documentary Afro-Punk in the PARC (covered in this week's Quest on page 6 by Vincent Tanforan ‘27), followed by a discussion with director James Spooner, who will also be the keynote speaker at the Zine Fest. Further events planned for this month in anticipation of the Zine Fest include a risograph workshop with Portland-based artist Timme Lu on March 21, a tour of Portland’s Independent Publishing Resource Center (IPRC) and zine-making session on March 26, and a session on the history of independent publishing in Reed Special Collections and Archives with Director of Archives Tracy Drake on March 28, as well as drop-in risograph printing in the Visual Resources Center (VRC) from March 25-29.
The word “zine” is short for fanzine or magazine, and according to the Zine Library website more specifically denotes “self-published, low-budget, low-circulation publications.” The website elaborates that “Zine creators are often motivated by a desire to share knowledge or experience with people in marginalized or otherwise less-empowered communities.” Visitors to the Reed Zine Library can find zines from a variety of Reed and non-Reed authors about topics including but not limited to anti-capitalism, protest safety and strategy, art, feminism, the queer community, people of color, and the Reed community. A full inventory is available in the library catalog.
The Zine Library is directed by Zine Librarian Ann Matsushima Chiu and Visual Resources Curator Chloe Van Stralendorff, who manage it alongside four student interns. Aida Taha ‘26 runs the Zine Club, which she says is “aimed to have more people come to the Zine Library, learn about zines, and find ways to express themselves.” Taha said Zine Club has seen “pretty nice” engagement, with at least 10 students at every meeting, and added that the creation of student-made zines is “good for institutional memory,” because the Zine Library archive provides self-expressed histories of “different students from different backgrounds, like students of color.”
Zine Club participants can print the zines they make using a risograph at the VRC. Lutetia Wang ‘26, another Zine Library intern, manages the risograph, which they explain is “a very eco-friendly type of printing” using soy-based ink. In addition to managing the risograph, Wang also designed the library’s current exhibition of queer Asian literature, “Butterflies, Belongings.” They reported strong engagement with the exhibit, saying they have seen “almost all my favorite books checked out.”
For further background on the Reed Zine Library and the upcoming Zine Fest, the Quest spoke to Ann Matsushima Chiu and Chloe Van Stralendorff. The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Louis Chase (LC): From what I understand, the Reed Zine Library is a relatively unique program for an academic library. How did the Reed Zine Library come about, and how is it curated? What is its relationship to the conventional academic library?
Ann Matsushima Chiu (AMC): While many academic libraries may have small zine collections, the Reed Zine Library is quickly becoming one of the largest circulating zine collections in Oregon. There are currently over 900 zines in the collection, many of which are made by local Portland zine makers, with a special focus on zines by people of color, queer and trans zinesters, and zines on topics such as protest, mutual aid, COVID-19 stories, DIY, personal experiences and identity.
The Reed Zine Library was founded in 2018 by the Library’s former Head of Special Collections and Archives, Maria Cunningham. Maria went on to found the OHSU Health Zine Library. The goal then, and still is now, is to increase the representation of underrepresented and marginalized voices in the Library collection, and zines, being considered primary sources, is a good way to do that.
Because zines do not have conventional publishing rules, anyone can publish a zine and tell their opinion, story, experiences, or perspectives, and because zines are relatively easy and affordable to make, they are an accessible creative format. Many libraries (both public and academic) are creating zine collections because they are realizing how valuable these perspectives are and often not found in traditional publishing. Portland zinester and former public library outreach librarian Cathy Camper just wrote a piece on zines for the School Library Journal on how zines allow young people to find out about “local topics absent from their school collections” (2023).
Chloe Van Stralendorff (CVS): We’ve seen a real shift in the accessibility of zines now that library professionals are advocating for them to be centered in programs and part of library collections. Zines have always been part of this unfiltered phenomenon in DIY and Punk spaces, but it’s crucial to note that libraries are carving space for them too. Barnard forged a path for academic libraries but I noticed the shift when I attended the Zine Librarians UnConference and the majority of attendees were from academic libraries! After learning from these awesome academic librarians, I started to understand the unique perspective that’s often missing in traditional academic resources, which is diverse voices and experiences. Ann’s work in integrating zines into Reed’s Library collection is a prime example of this! Her leadership is enriching the entire educational experience by giving students access to grassroots-level narratives, alternative viewpoints through the collection, and our favorite as librarians, zines as a primary source! We can’t have academic sources without non-academic or popular sources. There is a place for both in research and I think zines could be the missing tool!
LC: What kind of engagement from students and other community members have you seen with the Zine Library in the past, and what are you expecting for this semester's programs?
AMC: It’s been an exciting time since I’ve gotten the opportunity to manage the Zine Library. We started the Zine Library Internship in Fall 2023, which 4 students have done so far. We had so much student interest that the zine interns and VRC student workers started a Zine Club. We’ve also had a number of staff and students reach out about supplies, so we created a zine cart that is filled with zine-making supplies (like scissors, long arm stapler, gluesticks, collaging material) for clubs or groups of friends to check out. When I first got hired at the library, there were occasionally zine workshops, but the pandemic forced us to have to reimagine what zine outreach looks like at Reed, and how could we get the whole campus community involved. Chloe and I spent all last summer imagining, scheming, and dreaming, and frankly, asking for funding from all these different departments and offices on campus. It is only with their monetary support that we get the opportunity to invite rad zinesters special guests like Emilly Prado, Timme Lu, and James Spooner to campus. We really want to introduce the Reed community to the greater Portland zine community, since Portland is one of the major hubs for zine making and independent publishing in the US. It has one of the longest-running zine fests, Portland Zine Symposium which started in 2001, over 20 years ago!
CVS: My immediate thoughts are that I want to see how these programs contribute to community building on campus, but what I also really want to see is how the Library can activate and foster a space for individuality and self-expression. Ann mentioned that Portland is known for self-publishing, and I want to see students experience that vibrant history through these programs! We’ve already had award-winning author Emilly Prado host a zine and self-publishing lecture and a significant artist Timme Lu visit who hosted a series of risograph printing workshops.
LC: What are the objectives of the Zine Library's programs this semester?
CVS: There are so many wonderfully creative people in Portland and we want to bridge that gap by hosting programs where students can get inspired, create, and meet other zine creators. I think as past zine fest organizers, we hope that we’ll empower students to use zines as a tool for creativity, dialogue, and community building… and be reminded that Libraries exist for knowledge sharing, supporting needs, and building meaningful relationships.
AMC: Portland is such a unique city for zines and independent publishing. It has one of the longest-running zine fests in the US, the Portland Zine Symposium, as well as the Independent Publishing Resource Center, who we are also partnering with to host a “Print Your Zine” evening on March 26 from 6pm-9pm, so we just want to bridge Reed to the rad culture of DIY, art, and zine making in Portland. We also want to encourage the student-run zine efforts on campus so that’s how the Zine Club came to be! Zine Club is a place for students to find community with other creators and make zines together.
LC: What role do students have in maintaining the Zine Library? What do you want people to know about it?
AMC: Every fall, the Library hires interns. This year we hired Zine Library Interns. Each intern has a different role, whether more organizational, more focused on exhibits and displays, music collaborations, or community building. Our goal is that more zine activities are student-run in the future, maybe a student-run zine fest? It’s been awesome getting to collaborate with the various departments and student groups on campus, with the Zine Library helping host zine readings and zine release parties, and the VRC student workers hosting all these risograph workshops! The more zines being made by Reedies, the more the Zine Library can speak to the specificity of culture here at Reed. The collection is for students, so we continually encourage you to stop by, suggest zine titles, zine events and make sure to join Zine Club so you can help shape the future of zines on campus!
Reedies can find the Zine Library in the library’s South Reference Room on the main level. Anyone interested may submit zines to the Zine Library by contacting Ann Matsushima Chiu at chiua@reed.edu.
