From the Borough to BCL

Today was a milestone in what I consider to be a vital part of librarianship: getting to know your community. We had our first walk-in zine donation here at the library. Yes, we have been getting envelopes stuffed with great donations for a few months (!) now, and we’re getting to know Brooklyn zinesters via email, but as I see it, part of my job is to bring the wide world outside into the library for the students of Brooklyn College. And today I got to shake hands with a zine creator who generously donated 2 copies of a whole handful of zines. And it felt right, like the training I’ve had in such things at the Wisconsin Historical Society, in collecting locally, was leading to this, and this collection, hundreds of miles from where I started.

We don’t have a budget for this collection. We rely on the kindness of strangers to donate their labors of love. And it’s really wonderful to think that this whole system works in just this way–that I donate my time and energy on top of my other duties here in the library, the amazing summer zine interns donate their organizational expertise and their summer afternoons, and then zinesters are willing to donate their work. I’m really glad that we’re all able to collaborate on this project together, and I hope that Brooklyn College students are ready to start reading these amazing zines!

About Alycia Sellie

Alycia Sellie is the Associate Librarian for Collections at the Graduate Center Library.
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