The Salt Lake City Library, which has the largest collection of zines in any public library, will hold its first festival celebrating zines and all genres of alternative publications on Friday, Dec. 5, beginning at 1 p.m. in the library’s Urban Room and at other venues in and out of the library.

An already well-known pioneer in developing collections of alternative press zines, the library staff has created a website catalog – a virtual living archive – of its zine holdings which now number more than 4,000. Working from the well-established foundation of his predecessors, Clinton Watson, library staff member, says the significant presence of zines reinforces the library’s commitment in selecting the best publications for its collection which includes alternative press offerings, a cultural form of popular communication where the idea that every voice matters is implicit. The collection comprises a broader variety of independently produced media as well, to include visual art, music, film, and electronic media (e-zines, blogs, etc.).

The festival will include a long list of local authors, artists, and publishers showcasing their work at the downtown City Library during the afternoon with music and readings in the auditorium and workshops scheduled throughout the library. Afterward, more music, slam poetry and readings will be performed at various venues along East Broadway, just one block north of the library.

The list includes many names familiar to the local creative scene as well as the wider alternative press publishing industry including Patrick Briggs, Mike Brown, Trent Call, Jeff Chapman, Andy Hoffmann, Martha McLaughlin, Chaz Prymec, Cein Watson, and Alex Wrekk. Also represented will be the University of Utah Book Arts Program, The Mormon Worker, Savor The Steps, Salt City Indie Arts, Negative Space, Enormous Rooms, Trouble on the Prairie, and The Platter. East Broadway venues include No Brow Coffee and the Kayo Gallery.

Zines have been a part of the library’s collection since at least 1997, Watson says. And, the zines in the Salt Lake City collection represent a rich, diverse range of geography, politics, personal interests, religion, spirituality, hobbies, sports, art, literature, culture, and other topics which accumulate seemingly into infinity. More information about the library’s alternative press collection can be found here.

Zines have a venerable history, stretching back to at least Shakespeare’s days. In fact, Thomas Paine’s famous “Common Sense” pamphlet was essentially a zine. Some popular culture historians have called zines a de facto critique of commodified culture, highbrow perceptions of taste and aesthetics, and the gatekeepers of cultural production – editors, producers, publishers, and agents.

Also, for previous articles at The Selective Echo about the library’s zine collection, see here and here.