Tomorrow, November 16th from 2-4 EST, the University of Maryland iSchool's Center for Archive Futures (CAFe) will be hosting "Exploring Zines: Perspectives in Zine Creating, Collecting, and Education" a virtual panel event on zines, zine collection, and various work on zines in and around cultural heritage work. You can read the event description below or view it here to register for the virtual webinar.
Zines, fanzines, and minicomics are fun and fascinating objects that come in many forms and express diverse ideas to a bigger audience. They can communicate everything from a love for a band to advocating for radical political and social change. Zines are a diverse form of artistic expression, passion, fandom, education, and resistance. Today, you can purchase zines in local bookstores and record shops, find them online, or find them in public spaces. They are also objects that are fascinating for librarians and archivists to collect, preserve, and digitize.
In this panel discussion, we will be hearing from four cultural heritage practitioners, educators, and creators on the opportunities and difficulties of working with zines. Our panelists will share insights into their work with zines and their thoughts on zines as objects of artistic and cultural heritage importance. The panel event will include a live demonstration of creating a simple zine (bring some paper and your favorite pair of scissors!), a moderated panel discussion, and a Q&A session with our panelists.
Panelist Bios:
Loren Mixon
Loren Mixon is the Academic Engagement and Outreach Librarian at Coastal Carolina University. Prior to joining librarianship, they were a high school educator. Throughout their career, their focus has been on connection with others and relationship and community building. Their research interest are feminist pedagogy, librarian labor, and critical librarianship.
Lisa Warwick
Lisa Warwick is the Manager of The People's Archive at DC Public Library. Lisa worked in academic and specialty research libraries, including the University of Maryland and Dumbarton Oaks Research Library, before coming to the DC Public Library in 2013. Managing The People's Archive combines her love of old paper smell with serving the public. Lisa's professional passion is making information easily accessible to users.
She holds her M.A. in Information Science from the University of Maryland and a B.A. in Film Studies from the University of Pittsburgh. Outside of work, she enjoys cooking, biking, and reading at home with her cat, Bruce.
Sharaya Olmeda
Sharaya Olmeda is a reference librarian and zine maker at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, California. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with her Master in Library Information Science degree from San Jose State University. Sharaya began her career in librarianship at the California Men's Colony State Prison, where she worked as a Senior Librarian until 2023. In 2021, as a means to improve access and services in carceral libraries, Sharaya joined the ALA Standards for Library Services for the Incarcerated or Detained Work Group where she chaired the Drafting committee and served as a Project Manager; responsible for leading a complete revision of the Standards, which will be published in 2024. Sharaya teaches Prison Library Services at Cuesta College and is currently a Counselor at Large, Planning and Budget committee member, and LGBTQ Taskforce member with the American Library Association where she was elected to serve until 2025. She has created and led zine workshops about mental health and is passionate about making space for underrepresented voices and experiences.
Britt Starr
Dr. Britt Starr (she/her) is a recent graduate from the University of Maryland with a PhD in rhetoric and graduate certificates in women's, gender, and sexuality studies and digital studies. During her doctorate, Britt helped build the English department's BookLab, a makerspace, letterpress printing studio, library, and center for the book arts. As a graduate assistant with BookLab, Britt founded "ZineClub" to share the personally and politically transformative medium of zines in monthly, informal gatherings open to the UMD community and beyond. Britt has regularly incorporated zines and zine-making in her pedagogy and is currently teaching rhetoric and composition at Baltimore City Community College.