ABC No Rio Zine Library
In advance of the construction of our new facility, the ABC No Rio Zine Library has temporarily relocated to the Clemente at 107 Suffolk Street, Room #305.
Our library is in a small space and capacity is limited. Please schedule your visit in advance at zine [at] abcnorio.org.
Zine Library Hours:
Mondays: 6:00 - 9:00pm
Tuesdays: 4:00 - 7:00pm
Wednesdays: 5:00 to 7:30pm
Thursdays: 12:00 to 3:00pm and 4:00 to 7:00pm
Sundays: 12:00 to 3:00pm
Student groups and groups of three or more, and individuals pursuing research should also contact us at zine [at] abcnorio.org for appointments.
We are grateful to the Clemente for the support they are providing during our "exile" period.
https://www.theclementecenter.org/
More info about our new building at http://www.abcnorio.org/newbuilding.php
The ABC No Rio Zine Library contains over thirteen thousand items. Our collection includes independent, underground and alternative publications on subjects such as music, culture, politics, personal experience and travel. We have a special interest in zines addressing political and social issues.
This project began in the Spring of 1998 when we rescued the Blackout Zine Library from a squat in the South Bronx which was to be evicted. Since then numerous individuals have donated their personal collections, and zine editors and publishers regularly send us issues.
Our Zine Library focuses on the following:
1) Zines that emerge from, or cover, NYC's Lower East Side and downtown Manhattan. In particular, these zines highlight the creative practices for which the area is renowned (art, performance, fiction, poetry and politics) and serve as crucial documentation for events and movements that are largely left out of history.
2) Zines that are embedded in countercultures, subcultures, political scenes, DIY communities, and/or social movements. Some zines are individually made, but many are collectively produced. While some zines focus on a taste community (music) or lifestyle (veganism), we stress the ways those aesthetics and lifeways are grounded in subcultural belonging.
3) Zines that directly address social relations. Even when created individually, the personal expression explores how individual experiences are born out of asymmetrical social conditions (gender, race, class, sexuality).
4) Zines that engage in DIY practical advice-giving, covering such areas as parenting, education, health, dating, and peer support.
Zines are vital as alternative information sources. Zine collections inspire new generations of zine makers by demonstrating the sheer numbers and breadth of the types of zines possible. Zine collections allow actors in contemporary social movements to learn about the lineage of their communities. Zines need to be preserved as an archive of our activity for the historical record. ABC No Rio is a cultural space that has emerged from, and remains embedded in, New York City underground and countercultural movements. Like the zines themselves, ABC No Rio has evolved from within these movements.
