Toronto Zine Library: A History

The Toronto Zine Library (TZL) is a library run by a collective of volunteers who believe zines are a valuable medium and strive to make them accessible to the public. TZL volunteers have come and gone throughout the years; as a result, the library’s goals also change depending on the needs and capacity of the current collective. Below is a rough summary of the structural changes that had a significant impact on the library.

To learn more about past TZL activities, feel free to read our Zine-o-File at our library (you can even purchase our latest issues!). To see TZL events, check out our events page.

2006

Toronto Zine Library was born

1. TZL concept was started by Suzanne Sutherland & Patrick in 2006 after meeting on Stillepost.

2. In October 2006, the Toronto Zine Library found a temporary location at the TRANZAC and, in May 2007, permanently moved on the second floor of the TRANZAC.

3. A third collective member, Tara, joined TZL and brought with her a major donation of zines.

2007

Toronto Zine Library extends its outreach

1. As more visitors were interested in zine-related events, the TZL collective at the time decided to publish their own zines called “Toronto Zine Library: A Resource Zine” as a space to curate zine events throughout the Greater Toronto Area.

2. TZL became a lending library. The library accepted one-time $5 membership fees and established borrowing privileges.

3. The Toronto Zine Library’s website was launched on WordPress to promote its zine collection.

2011

Resource Zine renamed to Zine-o-File

The “Resource Zine” evolved over the years, from a zine that shared zine events throughout the Greater Toronto Area, to one that offers an in-depth look into TZL activities. The TZL collective decided to change the name from “Resource Zine” to “Zine-o-file”.

2013

Wall of the TZL space. Signs of water damage covering most of the wall. Wall is also discoloured, brown water damaged over the white walls

Library space scheduled for repairs

TZL space was scheduled for much-needed repairs and re-painting to its walls and replace outdated equipment and furniture.

2018

Updated catalogue to be accessible for the public

Updated Online Catalogue! The catalogue now includes online public access to the library’s catalogue. Learn more here.

2019

Logo for the Canada Comics Open Library. A red and white comic book, to the left of the logo the words "The Canada Comics Open Library"

Sister library established

Sister library, the Canada Comics Open Library (CCOL) was established.

2020

Toronto Zine Library becomes a reference library

1. The library was closed due to the first COVID pandemic wave.

2. After a review of the collection and volunteer capacity, the TZL collective decided to stop holding duplicate copies of zines and permanently stop its lending services to become a reference library (zines are NOT available for loan, but for in-library use only).

2021

Library space scheduled for major makeover

The Tranzac scheduled a year-long makeover for the TZL space. Learn more at the Zine-O-Files’ 2024 edition. TZL remained closed from early 2020 to the end of 2021.

2022

Renovated space of the TZL.

Toronto Zine Library’s open hours return

The renovated space was completed, and the TZL space reopened for the public in September 2022.

2023

Poster for PaperJam.

PaperJam

TZL Collective members hosted and entirely organized TZL’s first-ever zine fair, called PaperJam.