Social: Feelin’ on the Fifth Zine Club

Join other adult zinesters both experienced and amateur to create and exchange zines at this new quarterly zine club hosted by the Magazines and Newspapers Center on the 5th floor of the Main Library.  

Each meeting is loosely organized around a theme and is designed to facilitate the creation of an 8-page zine made out of a single sheet of paper, but you are welcome to create a zine on any topic and in any format you would like! Supplies tailored to the theme of the meeting will be provided, for example paper, collage ephemera, old magazines, markers, stickers, stamps and scissors. You are welcome to bring your favorite zine supplies as well. The goal is to complete your zine by the end of the social and share it with other participants. 

Photocopy support will be provided once the “master copy” of your zine is complete.  

Copies of zines may be displayed in the Magazines and Newspapers Center in addition to being exchanged with other participants.  

2025 Feelin’ on the Fifth Zine Club Dates and Themes:  

• Thu., March 13, 5-7 p.m.  
  • Feminist Zines for Womxn’s History Month 
    • The zine theme is hair. Hair style is bound up with expression of gender. How has your hair style influenced the way you are perceived in the world?   
    • Highlighted resource: Alison Piepmeier’s Girl zines : making media, doing feminism  
• Thu., June 12, 5-7 p.m.  
  • Summer Stride Kick-Off Zine 
    • Summer Stride is SFPL’s summer reading and learning program. The zine theme is knowledge unearthed. What do you want to learn this summer?   
    • Highlighted resource: Mark Todd and Esther Pearl Watson’s Whatcha mean, what's a zine? : the art of making zines and mini comics 
• Thu., Aug 14, 5-7 p.m.  
  • Summer Stride Wrap-Up Zine  
    • Summer Stride is SFPL’s summer reading and learning program. The zine theme is knowledge attained. What did you learn this summer?  
    • Highlighted resource: Stephen Duncombe’s Notes from underground : zines and the politics of alternative culture 
• Thu., Dec 11, 5-7 p.m.  
  • 2026 Vision Zine
    • As this year draws to a close, create a vision for your 2026. The zine theme is best wishes. Best wishes aren’t just for greetings cards; make a zine that expresses your best wishes for yourself in the coming year.  
    • Highlighted resource: V. Vale’s Zines!  

What is a zine?  

Zines are cheaply made printed forms of expression on any subject. They are like mini-magazines or home-made comic books about favorite bands, funny stories, sub-cultures, personal collections, comix anthologies, diary entries, pathetic report cards, chain restaurants, and anything else.  

Zines can be by one person or many. They can be any size: half page, rolled up, quarter sized...  

Zines are read by anyone willing to take a look, from concert-goers and the mail man to people on the train. They are sold at bookstores, thumbed through at zine libraries, exchanged at comic conventions, and mailed off to strangers.  

Zines are not a new idea. They have been around under different names (chapbooks, pamphlets, flyers). People with independent ideas have been getting their word out since there were printing presses.  

It’s a great feeling to hold copies of your zine in your hand. Go ahead, there is no wrong way. 

--Mark Todd & Esther Pearl Watson, Whatcha Mean, What’s a Zine? The Art of Making Zines and Mini-Comics, page 12 

This workshop is led by a Magazines and Newspapers Center librarian.  

Resources 

What is a zine? [Website] 

How to Make A Zine [PDF] 

Zines! [SFPL-created reading list]

SFPL Little Magazines Collection [Website]