Today the zine interns and I feasted on the amazing zine collection at the New York Public Library. NYPL librarian Karen Gisonny laid out a smorgasbord of print delicacies for us this morning at the 42nd Street Library:

Karen showed us part of their phenomenal zine collection and talked with us about alternative publishing, print culture and the changing nature of collection development and library collections–in that we spend much more time than ever before considering digital works, but print objects like zines and comics and literary magazines are particularly important to experience in real life, as we were lucky enough to do today.

I left the library feeling really well nourished. Between chatting with Karen, leafing through the zine collection, and taking a quick jaunt through the amazing centennial exhibition (really–it’s not to be missed–in just a few minutes, I glimpsed rows of delicate cuneiforms, swooned over Richard Wright’s handwritten corrections on three pages of the typewritten manuscript of Native Son, peeked into one of Malcolm X’s notebooks and examined a few amazing artists’ books)

There’s just something about seeing a really vibrant and well-cared for collection of zines that makes me really happy. And a visit to the 42nd Street library always reminds me of why libraries are important. Thank you, Karen, for hosting our second zine excursion!