How To Be A Zine Librarian: It’s no coincidence that many zine-makers end up becoming librarians – there is a spirit of curation, creative organization and connectivity that binds these two disciplines together. The people at the Hack Library School understand this very well, and have written a blog post about it. In the post, author Kevin Coleman breaks down what a zine is and explains how librarians can incorporate zine libraries and archiving into their own work and projects at school. The post also features an interview with two librarians who have managed to include zine libraries in their work. We know there’s at least a few librarians amongst our BP readership – did you know that it’s International Zine Month? Why not whip up some projects and zine-making exercises in celebration?
From WalMart to BookMart: Our favorite news story of the week comes from McAllen, Texas. The city recently converted a giant abandoned Wal-Mart into a giant, super-modern new library that recently won a design competition. You can see photos of the library here. It is stunning. Good on you, McAllen!
French Fanzines Festival: The Fanzines! Festival based out of Paris is gearing up for its second year. Organizers have put out a call for submissions of fanzines and self-published books, which will be displayed at the Marguerite Duras Public Library from October 17 to November 4. Based on photos from last year’s event, organizers put a great deal of care into displaying the fanzines and art, and there are some beautiful arrangements here (I really like the zines hung by pieces of string against one of the walls.) To learn more about the festival and to download a submission form, go here. The deadline is July 15.
Flannery O’Connor and Comics: Most readers know writer Flannery O’Connor for her sharp, bracing, sometimes hilarious stories about morality and God (or the lack thereof) in Southern life and culture in the mid-twentieth century. What you might not know is that O’Connor was also a cartoonist, and her drawings have been collected for the first time in a forthcoming book released by Fantagraphics this December. Based on a preview, the drawings inspire some of the same feelings that her writing does – characters appear oversized, grotesque, and somewhat brutally vulnerable and funny all at once.
From Our ‘Life Is Crafty’ Dept: We will close this edition of Found on the Internet with these insane hand-knitted sci-fi and horror masks by artist Tracy Widdes, which are too good not to share. Check her version of the Predator below. Love!
