Salford Zine Library
Salford Zine Library is volunteer-run reference archive of self published materials, originated in Salford, UK and now based in Manchester.
It seeks to preserve and provide access to zines from around the world, as well as promoting zines and DIY culture through workshops, exhibitions and other events. There are over 1500 zines in the collection, all of which have been donated by zine makers and collectors. The collection includes zines of all shapes and sizes, covering a broad range of subjects from football and feminism to veganism and poetry.
It is currently run by Ingrid Francis of Forever Temporary Press, and Cherry Styles of Synchronise Witches Press.
History
Salford Zine Library was originally founded by illustrator Craig John-Barr in 2010. It was housed in Islington Mill, an arts venue in Salford. It was primarily formed from zines Craig had personally collected, which expanded via donations.
In 2011 the collection was exhibited at Salford Museum and Art Gallery.
In 2012 the library homed to a a space inside Nexus Art Cafe. A crowdfunding campaign was run to raise funds to furnish the room with shelving and storage.
In 2013, running of the library was taken over by librarian Stephen Carlton and textile artist Elizabeth Murray Jones. In 2015 they were joined by Ingrid and Cherry after collaborating on the first North-West Zine Fest.
In 2018 the collection moved to a new purpose-built room inside Nexus Art Cafe.
As of 2020, the collection is currently no longer housed at Nexus Art Cafe and unavailable to the public, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Collection Policy and Donations
Salford Zine Library does not curate their collection, so anyone may donate their zine.
A postal address to send donations is available on their website[1].
North West Zine Fest
Since 2015, the team behind Salford Zine Library have also run North West Zine Fest, in different venues across Manchester and Salford.
Previous Exhibitions
- No No Life: A Lottie Pencheon exhibition (2015)
- Badman Crew collection exhibition (2015), work from students on the Marple Sixth Form College BTEC
- D-zine: A BTEC collective zine exhibition of music inspired artwork (2016), work from students on the Marple Sixth Form College BTEC
- Today Zine: an exhibition by Stef Bradley (2016)
- Gut Flora: a Chapess zine exhibition (2016)
- Perzines: Writing Lives and Stapled Secrets (2016), curated by Ingrid
- Penpals: a mail art exhibition (2016)
- Make Do And Mend: a celebration of the craft zine (2017) Curated by Sugar Paper zine
- Aggressively Queer and Radically Tender: an exhibition of prints from Pen Fight (2019)
