A Pedagogical Zine Collection

A zine, pronounced ‘zeen’, is a small-circulation, self-published, often free, inexpensive, or traded print booklet (Bindery, n.d.). Through this creative track, art media project, the artist, zinester, LIS educator and scholar, Dr. Abigail Phillips, provides space for exploring themes of identity, representation, advocacy, and epistemological justice. Zines and zine-making – the unconventional openness, joyful self-expression, and revolutionary spirit – will encourage attendees to scrutinize how LIS pedagogy ignores the voices of marginalized communities (Zine Librarians Interest Group, n.d.). Zine collections are common to find in school libraries, academic libraries, public libraries, community archives, and digital libraries (Queer Zine Archive Project, n.d.). This creative track project, Decoding the Catalog, invites attendees to interrogate how traditional cataloging schemes, classification, and related practices often reinforce structures of power, privilege, and exclusion (Wrekk, 2020). The collection itself will be composed of 7 to 10 zines, forming an interactive print media art exhibit during which attendees can handle, read, pass around, photograph, and generally engage with the zines. Copies of each zines within the collection will be available for attendees to freely take and share. In combination with the collection itself, an area will be set up for those at the session to create a zine(s) to further explore the focus of the presented zine collection, the conference theme, or whatever they are inspired to create. The DIY, activism driven, and introspective nature of zines, zine making, and zine culture help motivate action, critique, discussion, and brainstorming as part of LIS courses, scholarship, and our field broadly. The beginnings of this movement librarianship, library work, and education, including zine making and sharing, are already underway (LIS Mental Health, 2023). Emerging LIS scholarship, teaching, and advocacy demonstrates ongoing discussions around support and change—a momentum reflected in the 2025 ALISE conference theme. Viewing zines as tools for critical reflection, deconstruction, unlearning, and creative expression contributes to evolving LIS pedagogy into more equitable, accessible, and empathetic practices.