MUSKEGON, MI – Hackley Public Library’s new venture, the Muskegon County Community Zine Collection, aims to be an amplifier of marginalized voices in communities around the county.
Officials say they hope this collection will be a great way to “show our communities that we are willing to listen and promote their stories!”
Zines are self-published or published, low circulation works that allow marginalized voices to express themselves beyond the constraints of mainstream media that can provide a vehicle for ideas, expression and art, according to Hackley’s website.
This special collection of Hackley’s local history department will consist of submissions from adults living in the county and will be available for patrons to take home and read.
The collection will allow local writers to express themselves beyond the constraints of mainstream media and the process of publishing, according to Hackley’s Marketing and Program Coordinator Mallory Metzger.
“A lot of times, people may not be able to get their story out there,” Metzger said. “So, this is a nice way to have everyone’s voices share what they want. Zines can be almost anything in terms of what its makeup is.”
Hackley describes zines as inherently flimsy, given they are usually printed on regular printer paper, so staff will be scanning each accepted submission and storing them digitally in its local history collection.
Metzger said Adult Services Librarian Mary Ruge is the one who had the idea for the new collection, Metzger said. She said submissions can be anything from artwork and imagery to comics and texts.
“It’s not daunting at all,” Metzger said. “It can be a couple of pages; it can be multiple pages or in the form of a booklet.”
She said you can fold pages to create a zine, so it doesn’t necessarily have to be stapled.
“That’s what is kind of different about this particular collection,” Metzger said. “When someone submits a zine for this collection, they will know they are donating it. Because if someone decided they like a zine, they could take it home and keep it, but it will still live on in the collection as a digital form.”
Submissions are open to anyone living in Muskegon County 18 years or older. To submit your zine, simply go to your nearest Muskegon County library and ask for a zine submission form, or download a form here.
Hackley is encouraging the community to submit “your stories, your thoughts, your artwork, your poetry, whatever creativity is bursting to get out” to include in the collection.
For those looking for more information about submissions, Hackley Public Library, 316 W Webster Ave., is holding a program to give residents a more in-depth look at what a zine is called “Zines: Telling Your Story” on Saturday, June 21, from 5 to 6 p.m.
The hope is that by mid-summer, the zines will be out on the floor for patrons to take home and keep, rather than checking them out of the library.
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