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FYSB 1336: Zines for Witches

Wendy Schor-Haim's First Year Seminar, Spring 2025. Zine class led by zine librarian Jenna Freedman

Getting Started

Welcome to the Barnard Zine Library!

The Barnard Zine Library is part of the Barnard Library and Academic Information Services (BLAIS) in the Milstein Center for Teaching and Learning at Barnard College, Columbia University. The zines are described in the library catalog we share with Columbia University Libraries (CUL), CLIO.

Barnard's zines reflect the Barnard College student population with regard to gender. We have zines by women, nonbinary people, and trans men, with a collection emphasis on zines by women of color and a newer effort to acquire more zines by trans women. We collect zines on feminism and femme identity by people of all genders. The zines are personal and political publications on a wide range of topics, broadly addressing gender, feminisms, identities, political activism, and popular culture. Frequent topics include, for example, teenage girlhoods, punk cultures, COVID-19, riot grrrl, LGBTQIA experiences, BIPOC identities, travel, comics, physical and mental health, body image, gender nonconformity, discrimination, DIY and crafting, cooking, friendship, and much more. Our zines are at the lower end of the production level scale and typically cost $10 or less, with most of them in the $1-$5 range.

There are two zine collections: circulating stacks and special collections.

'screenshot of catalog record zine shot, indicating that items marked "Barnard Special Collections (non-circulating)" should be requested for use in the Reading Room and that items labeled "Barnard Zine Library" are available in the open stacks.'

Circulating zines are located on the 2nd floor of the Milstein Center and can be borrowed by Barnard and Columbia students and members of the BorrowDirect and MaRLI networks and are also available via interlibrary loan. Barnumbia loans are semester long and renewable 99 times.

The zine library is open the same hours as the Milstein Center, and can be checked out during Circulation & Help Desk hours.

Zine Library Resources

bear wearing a pleather jacket, shades, crownZine Library Resources

Zine Library Events

  • Fridays 1-4, 203 Milstein Center: Drop in hours
  • Thinking Outside the Paper: Zines in (and beyond) the Second Language Classroom, April 23nd, 2025 at 6:00-7:30
    In this talk, Spanish-language zine cataloger Nayla Delgado '24 and Lecturer of Spanish Almudena Marín-Cobos will discuss the development of a zine project for Almudena’s Elementary Spanish II course, alternative pedagogical approaches to language teaching, and zine projects in classrooms. Refreshments will be served.

Barnard Zine Club