* * NEWSFLASH: A-GIRLSTUDIO (that’s me) DONATES ZINE COLLECTION* *

(beep a deep a beep a deep)
After being a decade behind more savvy zinesters, I’ve finally donated my zine collection to an archival, special collections Library.  5 storage boxes of zines dating from 1990 to 2000 are on their way to:

Minneapolis Community & Technical College
Library Zine Collection

These same good folks house the zine collections of other fine creators and collectors like  Chris Dodge, librarian at the Utne Reader, who donated 1000 zines.

Now I couldn’t be like Sarah Dyer (whose collection is named after her, namely, the Sarah Dyer Collection at Duke University’s Bingham Center,), and donate certain kinds of zines of a certain genre because my piles (and piles, and piles) were made up of Every kind of small press publication you could think of.

I didn’t want to go through and divide it all up into comics, rant, grrrl, poetry, artsy fartsy, UK, Queer, etc, you get the idea.  Some libraries wouldn’t accept such a collection en masse–the more naive and ‘amateur’ works of expression, unfortunately, would probably have been weeded out.

And some libraries did not want ‘rant’ zines, and some were only regional (and I was not going to go through and try to figure out what was exclusively West Coast–obviously, there goes the Yugoslavian stuff!), and so forth.

So thank you MC&TC! 

I just want to mention that the dependable and venerable Michigan State University Libraries Special Collections would have been the go to place for such a donation, but I figured that quite a few of my fellow creators had already placed their collections with MSU and I didn’t want to burden their archiving system with more duplicates.

Why did I pick an Archival Library rather than support a Zine Loaning Library?:
Um, Zines dating back to 1990.  From the U.K.  We are talking one of a kinds that I carried on me back from the old country into this new world (I kid you not; the year was 1991 and my backpack weighed about 60 lbs from all the zines, magazines, and books I had bought in London).  I would like them to have a nice, air conditioned, possibly stored in archival plastic home, if you know what I mean.

(as Jennifer Paterson would say:)  Dear little things!!

And as you can tell, when Sarah was urging me way back when to do the donation thing, I was super reluctant to give up all the little handmade booklets at that time.  NOW is that time (before the Southern California heat kills them more.)

I did separate out the clearly Queer, Lesbian, etc zines, magazines, and comics.  I felt it would be a good opportunity to support an LBGT library.  So 2 boxes of Queer zines, magazines, and comics are going to:

The Stonewall Library & Archives in Florida.

Why oh why did I pick a library the length of a continent away when I live in California, of all places?  Well kids, again because the collection is eclectic and inclusive.  And the Stonewall Library, newly formed, Rocks and ought to have Cool Stuff.

So things like Larry-Bob’s Holy Titclamps, Oh…Magazine,  CIAO!, Lesbian Contradiction, Leanne Franson‘s Lilliane, Donna Barr‘s Desert Peach, Fat Girl, Girl Jock, QUIM (which I carried on me back from London, etc etc), Bosum Buddies, Tales from the Closet, Deneuve, DIVA, Andy Mangels‘s Gay Comics, and so forth will be at Stonewall for the local kids to enjoy.  Safe for girls and boys!

Check the Library out!  Their latest exhibit is about the Harlem Renaissance.

And lastly, I’ve made a small donation to the Denver Zine Library, on behalf of all my readers, fellow zinesters, and supporters during that decade when A-Girl was active and Out There.  It’s just a symbolic gesture to say Thank You and to remember all of the kindness and appreciation that was shown to me.

Towards ’98 things got tough; I injured both my hands and couldn’t continue A-Girl, much less answer the mail anymore.  The old letters I sorted through these past weeks brought back the voices of my readers and fellow creators like as if they were Fresh and Now.  It’s amazing.  There were some letters I didn’t even open (the hands thing).  And some people just kept giving me money, hoping for more new A-Girl.

It was also the time of the decline in small press, and strangely, the same period when many, many of the people on my mailing list had address changes.  Much of my last mailing of A-Girl was returned to me.  My long standing 120 San Fernando mailing address also had to end due to the good owner of that box service retiring.  The person I ended up signing up with for a new addy was not such a nice person.  There just came a time when my involvement in small press had to stop.

And when my hands got better, Charm School was waiting.

And is still waiting. 

Thanks for listening.  Of the zines I kept (terrible me, I just couldn’t let go of them all), I may photograph and put up in a gallery at A-Girl World.  (Okay, yes, I kept most of Jaina Davis‘s Flatter!!).

YAY HANDMADE BOOKS

yours in all manners of Expression,
~~~eeee!