Donated zines

A lot of the zines in the Zine Library were donated, and often people drop off or send zines to the Anchor Archive as donations. If you receive donated zines or sort through a pile of donated zines during your shift, you can follow these steps to figure out what do with them. If you don't have time to do anything with them, please put a sign on them that says “Donated Zines” or add them to an existing box marked “Donated Zines.”

Are they zines?

The Anchor Archive can only house zines due to space restrictions, so if someone gives us books, magazines, pamphlets, or other non-zines, we can't keep them. We make some exceptions to this rule, like books that are compilations of zines or books and magazines that are about zines or zine culture or punk culture. If you're uncertain, ask another collective member.

If the person who donated the non-zines is still there, give them back. If they're gone, see if you can contact them so they can take their non-zines back. If we're stuck with the non-zines, try to find another home for them or put them in the free/by donation pile.

Look up each zine in the catalogue to see if we already have it

We can only keep 2 copies of each zine because of space restrictions (or 3 copies for locally produced zines or especially in-demand zines).  Look up the zine in the catalogue to see how many copies we have.  Note if any copies are marked as missing.

If possible, look for the zine on the shelf to make sure it's not missing and it's in good condition.

If we already have 1 copy, catalogue the second copy. See Add a Copy for instructions on this. 

If we already have 2 copies (and none are missing or in bad condition), put the zine in the free/by donation pile. 

If we don't have the zine at all, catalogue it or put it in the box of zines to be catalogued.

Thank the donor!

Once you go through all of the donated zines, thank the person who gave them to us if you have their contact information – either in person or by e-mail or letter.