Zines As Outreach For Art Kids and Ecologists (And Everyone In Between)

Abstract

Zines provide a unique outreach opportunity for librarians across disciplinary boundaries and functional roles, offering a low barrier for entry (Can you fold and cut? Great! You’re almost done!) and transdisciplinary appeal. These DIY, be-whatever-you-need-them-to-be teaching tools and learning objects create a dynamic energy as easily as they foster quiet contemplation through drawing and writing. Want to share your research about rising nitrogen levels in area lakes? Your journey to body posi behavior? Try zines.

This poster will highlight the efforts of librarians and staff across Special Collections and public services departments at a mid-sized, Midwestern liberal arts university. For more than a year, we have been working to connect zines to students directly in the classroom (through courses like Drawing for Non-Majors and Introduction to Creative Writing); to campus communities through our standing, monthly zine workshop series; and to the broader community through annual events like our Women’s History Month celebrations and makerspace.