What’s a zine? Pronounced "zeen," zines are DIY booklets made by collaging text and art together to share personal stories and interests often underrepresented by mainstream media. The best thing about zines is that anyone can make them – they're easy, cheap, and can explore literally any topic or theme. No rules, no filters, no algorithm – just pure pre-internet vibes, made by you because you love what you love. Want to learn how to make your own? Check out the resources below to get connected to zine-making’s rich history and culture.
An Introduction to Zines – Teen Librarians from Middle County Public Library walk us through their zine collection and talk about different types of zines, ideas to jumpstart your zine-making, and how to get your zine to others once you’ve made it.
Why Make Zines? – If you don’t have a reason already, here are 10 good reasons to make zines from the zine librarian community.
A Brief History of Zines – Where did zines come from? From sci-fi fanzines in the 30s to the punk movement zines of the 70s to the riot grrrl zines of the 90s, this article gives a short overview of some of the defining moments in zine culture history.
5 Lies About Zines Most People Believe – Southern California zinemaker Bre Upton debunks common misinformation on zines, including why zines are not just little magazines, how Black zines existed before the term was officially coined, and that zines don’t need to be political to be impactful.
But I Love The Zine – A short film from KQED about the Bay Area zine scene, including interviews with self-publishers Jeffrey Cheung of Unity Press, V. Vale of RE/Search, Tiny Splendor, and J Wu of Mixed Rice Zines.
Long Arm Stapler Podcast – Maira McDermott is a local Bay Area zinester who talks to other zine makers and zine fest organizers about their creative process on their podcast, Long Arm Stapler.
Zine Fests – Zine creators and fans gather together at zine fests across the country each year to buy, sell, trade, and share their love for zines and zine culture. Our local zine fests include Bay Area Queer Zine Fest, East Bay Alternative Book & Zine Fest, Dear Diary Zine Fest, and San Francisco Zine Fest.
Where To Find Zines in the Bay – At the Oakland Public Library, you can read and borrow over 700+ zines, submit your zine to our collection, and join us monthly at Teen Zine Club. There are also more places in and near Oakland where you can browse zine archives, buy and sell zines, and make zines in community:
- Crisis Club (Oakland)
- Underdog Film Lab (Oakland)
- A.B.O. Comix (Oakland)
- Brown Recluse Zine Distro (Oakland/Online)
- The Long Haul Infoshop Zine Archive (Berkeley)
- San Francisco Public Library Little Maga/Zine Collection (San Francisco)
- Silver Sprocket (San Francisco)
- Syzygy Co-op Teeny-Tiny Zine Library (San Francisco)
Want to learn more? We have books about zines, too! Check out these titles about zines and zine-making from the OPL collection:
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