Zines at The New York Public Library
What are zines?
Zines are easier to describe than define. They’re “do-it-yourself” (DIY) handmade magazines that come in all different shapes, sizes, and formats. Many are handwritten, photocopied, and stapled, while some may be professionally printed, magazine-like publications. They are a unique form of personal self-expression and can cover just about any subject you can think of. Some common themes include: feminism, music, politics, activism, literature, personal, crafts, art and design, and travel. Frequently, distribution is done by the zine creators themselves through exchange and trade. Building community through sharing this way is an integral part of the zine experience. Collecting zines in libraries is important because zines document contemporary popular culture, making them important primary source material for future scholarship—plus they’re a lot of fun!
Where are zines?
A portion of The New York Public Library's zine collection, over 100 titles, is housed in the DeWitt Wallace Periodical Room at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building with current periodicals in Room 108. (There are additional zines located in the library stacks, offsite, in other research centers of NYPL, and within some of the Special Collections at the Schwarzman Building.) Find available zines by searching the title or the following subjects in the library’s research catalog:
- Zines
- Fanzines
- Underground press
- Little magazines
The titles below are currently held in Room 108 (last updated April 2024):
2AM Magazine
Animal Review
Antenym (Ant.e.nym)
Anything that Moves
Axe Factory
Babysue
Bamboo Girl
Bathtub Gin
BC Monthly
Beer Frame
Beet
Before the Mortgage
Best Zine Ever
Big Little Times
Bikini Girl
Blades
Blank Gun Silencer
Blu
Blue Collar Review
Book Happy
Borough is My Library
Broken Pencil
Brooklyn!
Browsing Room
Burn Collector
Bushwick Review
Cherotic Revolutionary (also appears as Cherotic (R)evolutionary)
Codslap!
Cometbus
Constant Rider
Cosmopolitans
Croq
Datacide
Die Young
Diseased Pariah News
Dishwasher
Doris
Drink Me
Duplex Planet
Earth and You
East Village Inky
Eclectic
Ecto
Exit 13
Factsheet Five
Farm Pulp
Fell Swoop
Fewer Mannequins
Fish Drum
Free Lunch
Fuel
Fugitive Pope
Gauntlet
Geek Girl
Girl Crush Zine
GirlFrenzy
Grapefruit
H2so4
Hat
Heeltap
Hey Lady
Holy Titclamps
Hothead Paisan
I Love Bad Movies
Indignant
Indulgence
Indy Unleashed
Interlope
Johnny America
Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet
Librarians and Archivists to Palestine
Library Bonnet
Lilliput Review
Lost and Found Times
Love Injection
Low Budget Adventure Stories
Lower East Side Librarian
Mineshaft
Mirage #4/Period(ical)
Miranda
Moonlight Chronicles
Mouth
Murder Can Be Fun
My Mother's Fashion
Nervy Girl!
Nuthouse
One Story
Nancy's Magazine
Pansy Beat
PekoPeko
Peops (title is written as Peoples in Sierra)
Pepg!rlz
Pink
Plotz
Poetry Motel
Point
Processed World
Public Illumination
Put a Egg On It
Q Zine
Quantify
Quimby
Rejuvenation
Riffrag
The Rubbers Bros.
Runcible Spoon
Salt
Shattered Wig Review
Show Me the Money!
Skanky Possum
6 x 6 (Six by Six)
Slice Harvester
Squawk
Stay Free!
Stroker
Struggle
Tenacious
Tangent
Thoughtworm
Umbrella
Unbearables
Xerography Debt
Urban Pantheist
Very Small Magazine
Womb of the Dawn
We'll Never Have Paris
Zine Guide and Index
Zine Librarian Zine
Zine World