Zine Library

Branches With Zine Collections

Mail physical copy c/o Zine Librarian to any or all of the 13 locations:

Central Library - Special Collections

Special Collections holds a variety of zines focusing on Los Angeles communities, which are available to view by appointment. In addition, the department recently received 595 zines related to 90s youth culture, and cataloging is in process. A resource guide to these materials was created by DAIA Apprentice Ava Duchrow.

Central Library - Teen'Scape

Cypress Park

Cypress Park's zine collection is a mixed pot of new and established voices, including interviews and other excerpts from Razor Cake (an Alice Bag interview spanning an entire issue!). Some are as small as the palm of your hand, and some are the size of a composition notebook. Content-wise, from cute to thought-provoking, subversive to promoting self-care. Mostly local writers and artists.

Edendale (Echo Park)

Donations are an integral part of the Edendale Branch zine collection. The collection relies on generous donations from local bookstores (Stories, Skylight, Secret Headquarters), printing presses (Tiny Splendor, Hesse Press, Inventory Press, Martian Press), and zinesters. We also received zines from participants in the 2018 LA Zine Fest and the following local Collectives/Organizations: Thick Thigh Collective, Skid Row zine, Feminist Library on Wheels, Echo Park Film Center, AntenaMóvil, High Desert Test Sites, LA Zine Fest, and Women's Center Creative Work. Artist Hellen Jo donated over 300 zines from her personal collection.

Felipe de Neve

The Felipe de Neve zine collection, a diverse and eclectic mix of zines by makers of all ages and experiences, is dedicated to our late patron, Ian Irizarry, and includes zines by Ian’s sister, Poliana Irizarry, aka Polianarchy. Please ask the librarian on duty about our zine collection, located by the Reference Desk.

Goldwyn Hollywood

The Goldwyn Hollywood zine collection is available alongside our graphic novels, comics, and manga. We welcome all sorts of donations, but we're especially interested in zines that reflect the social, ethnic, and creative diversity of the Hollywood neighborhood.

Hyde Park

The Zine Library began in July of 2017 for International Zine Month. Many of the zines in this collection are from Orange County Zine Fest, Los Angeles Zine Fest, Joshua Tree Zine Fest, Long Beach Zine Fest, Tijuana Zine Fest, American Library Association Zine Pavilion & Zine Librarians unConference. This collection also features many Spanish-language zines from Mexico City.

Malabar

The Malabar Branch zine collection is curated for young adults (ages 13–25) and is available in the Young Adult section of the library, next to the new books and magazines. This zine collection seeks to reflect the social, ethnic, creative, and ever-changing diversity of Boyle Heights while amplifying the voices of community members and youth.

Palisades

The Malabar Branch zine collection is curated for young adults (ages 13–25) and is available in the Young Adult section of the library, next to the new books and magazines. This zine collection seeks to reflect the social, ethnic, creative, and ever-changing diversity of Boyle Heights while amplifying the voices of community members and youth.

Pio Pico Koreatown

The Pio Pico Koreatown library is in the process of launching its first zine collection! We are especially interested in collecting zines that highlight the diverse communities and cultures of Koreatown. To submit your zine or to learn about the collection, please email piokor@lapl.org. 

Our zines by the following categories: art books and photo zines, arts/culture, catalogues/programs, cities/neighborhoods/places, comics, DIY/how-to, education, fanzines, film/TV, food, games, gender, history, indigenous, kids, labor/work/jobs, legal issues, LGBTQIA+, literary, mind/body, music, personal/letters, politics/theory/activism, prison/policing, race, science/environment/outdoors, sports, and technology. 

Van Nuys

The Van Nuys Library Zine Collection, built over decades, was brought to Van Nuys in Fall 2024 by the Zine Librarian, who built collections at Long Beach Public Library (est. 2015) and Palisades Library (est. 2022). The collection started with several uncatalogued zines from the Palisades Library, shortly before the library's collection was lost in the Palisades fire in early 2025. In the spirit of generosity, the Long Beach Public Library donated a sizeable collection to help rebuild the collection lost at Palisades. The Van Nuys Library collection has grown steadily with recent zines donated by LAPL Zine Club members. Join us online on the first Monday of every month at 4 p.m. via Zoom to learn more! Past zine club guests can be viewed on our YouTube channel.

Venice

Founded in 2024, the Venice Library Zine Collection is a welcoming, creative space dedicated to young adult topics, indie art, and all the unique "odds and ends" of DIY publishing. Zine creators from all over the world fill our shelves, bringing together local community voices and international stories. A major part of our current collection has a deeply meaningful history: after the fire that destroyed the Palisades Library zine collection in 2025, the global zine community stepped up to donate these works in its honor during a zine drive led by our Zine Librarian. Today, this collection stands as a reminder of how powerful community and paper-and-ink art can be. We invite you to come explore these unfiltered stories, get inspired, and even add your own voice to our shelves.  

West LA

The West LA Library's zine collection launched in 2018 and now has over 600 zines in our collection, representing all ages. We have a children's zine section and a zine cart that includes zines for teens and adults. Our zine cart has a catalogue to help you browse, and the zines are organized by the following categories: art books and photo zines, arts/culture, catalogues/programs, cities/neighborhoods/places, comics, DIY/how-to, education, fanzines, film/TV, food, games, gender, history, indigenous, kids, labor/work/jobs, legal issues, LGBTQIA+, literary, mind/body, music, personal/letters, politics/theory/activism, prison/policing, race, science/environment/outdoors, sports, and technology. West LA also has several zine kits that you can check out with a library card to make zines at home. Patrons are, of course, welcome to donate zines they make to our collection! You can email westla@lapl.org to learn more about our collection.

What is a zine?

Zines are self-published works that have a limited print run. Zines are usually created with the intention of sharing one’s thoughts, feelings, creativity, experiences, and knowledge with others. Zines are part of a DIY (do it yourself) culture, which often includes people from marginalized communities or those who don’t have access to more mainstream publishing options.

Mission

The LAPL Zine Collection aims to provide access for our patrons to a variety of current and local zines with diverse viewpoints and subject matter. Our intention is to support zine authorship, diversity, DIY culture, and to encourage zine makers to submit their publications into the collection.

General Guidelines

Cataloging

Every zine in the collection is fully cataloged so that patrons can place holds on items and have them delivered to the Los Angeles Public Library Central Library and 72 branches.

Donations

The library accepts donations of zines, but cannot guarantee that donated items will be added to the collection. Zines added to the collection should be in good condition. Library staff will assess donations according to the library’s materials selection criteria and may use their discretion to decline a donation based on the number of items donated, content, or condition. Please limit your donation to 10 copies of one zine.

Withdrawals

The zine collection is not archived. Our zine collection is available to the public. Keep in mind when donating your zine that it might get lost or stolen. Questions on how to submit your zines? Please email zines@lapl.org