American Dreams and Realities

Posted on March 3, 2012 by Alycia Sellie

A big THANK YOU to Jocelyn Wills’ American Dreams and Realities class for being a really wonderful group who came and visited the BCL Zine Collection this past week. It was really an honor to have you all come in and take a look at the collection!

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Slides from Zines from the Borough Presentation

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Alycia Sellie

[kml_flashembed movie=”http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=cftzinepresentation-111220125759-phpapp01&stripped_title=zines-from-the-borough&userName=alyciaaicyla” width=”525″ height=”405″ allowfullscreen=”true” /]

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Zines and Narratives of Immigration and Transition

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Alycia Sellie

Dear zine creators/readers/lovers:

Do you know of any zines which explore, document or narrate the immigrant experience? Can you recommend zines that look at national identity, nationhood, diasporas, mobility, citizenship or belonging?

We are seeking more zines that explore these issues–in any language–for our BCL zine collection. If you have a recommendation, please leave a comment here on on our contact page or email zinecollection (at) brooklyn (dot) cuny (dot) edu

We will be sure to share all of the information that we collect. Thanks for your help!

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Hooray for Catalogers!

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Alycia Sellie

I am super excited to report that due to the diligent work of the Brooklyn College Library Technical Services faculty and staff, we have more than 20 zines already cataloged!

For some*of you who have donated, now you can show your parents your name up in lights (aka in a library catalog)! To see your own zine or all of the cataloged items, just do a CALL NUMBER search in our catalog for “Zines” and you’ll see what’s been happening so far. If you don’t know how to do this, ask a librarian!

Finally, the other great thing about getting these zines cataloged is that soon we can start to get them onto the shelves in our browsing collection–stay tuned!

*If you don’t see your zines there yet, please be patient–more are on their way!

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Zines from the Borough: Teaching with the Brooklyn College Library Zine Collection

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Alycia Sellie

In collaboration with the Brooklyn College Center for Teaching, I’ll be leading a workshop about using zines in the classroom. All are welcome to attend! Get in touch if you would like more information about the event.

A zine (rhymes with bean) is a self-published magazine that is usually made by hand and reproduced using a photocopier. Zines are publications for which there are few rules, and usually defy a succinct or global definition. The content of these publications covers a wide spectrum of topics, but the new zine collection at the Brooklyn College Library is focused primarily upon works made within or about Brooklyn.

Over the past few months Professor Alycia Sellie has been working with a few interns to acquire and organize Brooklyn zines-many of which were donated by their creators, who live throughout the borough. These materials present many opportunities for teaching–from book art workshops to the study of self-publishing, personal narratives and memoir. If you would like to learn more about how the zine collection might be integrated into your curriculum, join us on Monday, December 12 from 12:00-1:30pm in the Brooklyn College Library for a short presentation, zine viewing and discussion.

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Brooklyn Zine Fest in April 2012!

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Alycia Sellie

There’s another upcoming NYC zine fest! The Brooklyn Zine Fest will take place on Sunday, April 15, 2012 at Public Assembly.

I want to give a huge shout-out to all the folks organizing zine fests in the metropolitan area. Having worked on a couple of zine fests myself, I know they require a lot of hard work and organizational dedication. Thank you to the folks who are putting the elbow grease into getting these events going!

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Collection Building

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Alycia Sellie

The collection is growing in leaps and bounds. We’re working on getting the 400+ issues that have been donated cataloged, ordering shelves for the browsing collection, and just yesterday I went and retrieved the amazing donation that you see pictured above, which was given to us by some very kind folks, Liz Baillie and Gabby Schulz/Ken Dahl, and is chock full of all kinds of treasures. Stay tuned for more news and reports!

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Feminist Zinefest NYC 2012!

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Alycia Sellie

There will be a Feminist Zinefest in NYC on February 25, 2012!
Feminist zinesters are invited to table by emailing: feministzinefestnyc@gmail.com
More info to come over at the Feminist Zinefest NYC page.

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The Occupy Wall Street Library

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Alycia Sellie

On Friday, I donated any extra copies and any zines we could spare to the Occupy Wall Street Library. The OWS Library loves zines, books (particularly about people’s history) and volunteers to help sort, catalog and organize the library. A lot has been written about this amazing project already, but the best thing about Occupy Wall Street is that each of us is invited to visit and to become a part of this movement. I suggest that all New Yorkers stop by and bring something to share.*

*Blankets, sleeping bags, warm clothes, tarps, and rain gear seem to be the best things to bring for the people of OWS, and zines and other reading materials, flashlights, markers and waterproof containers are what the library needs most.

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Zine Workshop–October 7, 2011

Posted on September 18, 2011 by Alycia Sellie

If you are interested to learn more about the Brooklyn College Zine Collection, I will be holding a brief introductory workshop and zine viewing session on Friday, October 7, 2011 from 1-2pm in the Brooklyn College Library’s Multipurpose Room (on the 4th floor of the BC Library).

I plan to talk a little about zines at large (what they are, and their history) as well as plans for the Brooklyn College collection. I also hope that the session will be a chance for others to take a look at a few of the zines that have been donated, and to chat about publishing and print.

If you are unaffiliated with CUNY and would like to attend this session, feel free get in touch–email zinecollection (at) brooklyn.cuny.edu for more information.

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