The Smith College Zine Collection pilot program in Hillyer Art Library, which is funded by a Racial Justice Action Planning Grant, is committed to allowing students, faculty, staff, and community members access to a wide variety of zines. As a non-preservation-centric pilot program, we are primarily interested in providing free and accessible materials to readers in the area, rather than curating a complete historical record from any specific origin.

We use our program funds to purchase zines that represent one or multiple of our collection themes of Social and Racial Justice, Futurism, and Student Activism. Our collection prioritizes contemporary pieces (zines produced in the past 10 or so years), although we will consider and accept older materials.

The zine pilot project adheres to the Smith College Libraries Collection Strategy.

Due to the handmade and sometimes fragile nature of zines, we may have to remove damaged or otherwise compromised items from our collection. Such decisions will be made at the discretion of library staff, and we reserve the right to take zines out of circulation at any time for any reason. If a zine is removed from our collection, it will be recycled or otherwise properly disposed of by library staff and removed from the library catalog. In the (unlikely) event that the collection is discontinued or loses its space in Hillyer, we would first try to find new and loving homes for our zines before resorting to disposal.

Similarly, we understand that zines may contain highly personal subjects. You may have donated a zine in the past and have now decided that you want it removed from our shelves. If that is the case, do not hesitate to reach out to us and let us know!