Every Little Thing: Make a Zine in 2011

Everyone has something creative within, and we at the San Francisco Public Library think our readers are some of the most creative people anywhere. So when we were alerted to the Revenge of Print project, we found ourselves wanting to tell you about it and support the effort by encouraging you to make a zine in 2011. You know you can do it.

A confession first: aside from a zine made in the early 1990s, this Special Collections librarian has only produced a list of the titles for zines she wanted to make. That list is sitting on my desk next to the Edison cylinder. Hmm, what does that say about yours truly? OK, so I'm a writing sluggard. I've been a little busy doing the collecting thing.

As I said, I have a bunch of lovingly thought-out titles, and more than one person has encouraged me to turn my title list into a zine. Taking a line from one of my favorite zines (The Lower East Side Librarian Winter Solstice Shout Out) "every little thing" is a pretty good description of my would-be zine-making possibilities. Just about anything can be written about, with inspiration found in mundane and everyday events; all you have to do is pick something! If you need ideas, The Little Maga/Zine Collection is a good place to start. Search the Library catalog (call number = little magazines) and the title list for complete holdings.

For the actual making of your zine, get some tips from this terrific instructional video :




How to Make a Zine by nicki sabalu
The song on this video is from "Vs. Wilderness" by Finn Riggins.



Here's my list of zine titles. I guess I better get down to it, and not "in my own sweet time!"

1.  Bricolage (describing a visit to Paris in 2007)

2.  Rootin' Tootin' (the discovery of a basement full of 20 years of wrapping paper)

3.  She Looked Like a Good Girl, She Wore White Socks (overheard conversations)

4.  In My Own Sweet Time (personal procrastination issues)

5.  Miss Augusta Terris, Post Mistress (ordinary people doing extraordinary things)
6.  Loafer (I thought about this title during last year's San Francisco Zine Fest)

7.  Every Little Thing (an unfocused look at life's minutiae. Thank you, Jenna Freedman and Lower East Side Librarian!)