Zines as a Means for Epistemic Justice

I began making zines unwittingly. In college, a few friends and I founded a publication as an outlet for local, in-depth coverage. We secured funding from a national organization to cover printing costs.

At a conference for publications the organization funded, we realized how different ours was from the others. For one, we printed on black-and-white newsprint instead of slick, full-color pages. I remember the editor of another publication commenting, “You guys are more like a zine.” As if our publication hadn’t been polished enough to remove all reminders of the hands that made it. It was much later that I realized our differences went beyond the material. Our differences reflected our “ethos of collaboration, self-determination and resistance.”

In my last post, I wrote about epistemic justice as a response to epistemicide, or the “the devaluing, silencing, killing, or annihilation of knowledge.” Dr. Beth Patin sees local community archives as a means of correcting epistemic injustice. One way to develop community archives is through zine-making.

Librarians are no strangers to zines. For example, ALSC bloggers have written about zines as means of supporting freedom of expression and addressing comics challenges through a community zine project. And my local library system regularly hosts zine-making events for teens.

In my December 2024 post, I wrote about hacking books to grow diverse collections and reminisced on cutting up old magazines in my childhood. I said, “There was something liberatory about it, especially when I used the clippings to create something new.”

When I was a first grade teacher, donations of old magazines made it possible for me to provide my students with opportunities like the ones I had as a child. But—for some reason—I had never thought of directing those opportunities toward zine-making. 

Now that I am in a role outside of the classroom, I am full of ideas and regrets. But also full of excitement to engage in zine-making with the children I serve in my current role.

How is zine-making a part of your library’s programming for children—or could it be? Drop a line in the comments or at ktaksier@ufl.edu.

This blog post relates to ALSC Core Competency III: Programming Skills.

The post Zines as a Means for Epistemic Justice appeared first on ALSC Blog.

 I began making zines unwittingly. In college, a few friends and I founded a publication as an outlet for local, in-depth coverage. We secured funding from a national organization to cover printing costs. At a conference for publications the organization funded, we realized how different ours was from the others. For one, we printed on black-and-white newsprint instead of slick, full-color pages. I remember the editor of another publication commenting, “You guys are more like a zine.” As if our publication hadn’t been polished enough to remove all reminders of the hands that made it. It was much later that I realized our differences went beyond the material. Our differences reflected our “ethos of collaboration, self-determination and resistance.” In my last post, I wrote about epistemic justice as a response to epistemicide, or the “the devaluing, silencing, killing, or annihilation of knowledge.” Dr. Beth Patin sees local community archives as a means…
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