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A collection of zines on display in the Collect O'Rama Case at Olin Library.
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John M. Olin Library, Collect O'Rama Case

Ideas, Art, and Community: My Zine Collection

The Collect O’Rama table is a space for individuals to share unique personal collections. Director of Development at the ACLU of Missouri Nicole Rainey has been collecting zines since the 1990s and shares a portion of them here in the Collect O’Rama table.

Rainey discovered zines in the mid-1990s by reading about riot grrrl punk in her dad’s Rolling Stone magazines. Zines reached a more prominent place in Rainey’s life as she discovered a community of activists protesting the war in Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001, attacks.

A collage of even more zines showcased in the Ideas, Art, and Community Collect O'Rama exhibition case.
Part of Nicole Rainey’s personal zine collection is displayed in the Collect O’Rama case. Zines showcased here are Family Style, How I Quit School, As Soon As You’re Born They Make You Feel Small, and many others.
A collage of many, many different zines showcased in the Ideas, Art, and Community Collect O'Rama exhibition case.
Part of Nicole Rainey’s personal zine collection is displayed in the Collect O’Rama case. Zines showcased here are The Secret Lives of Emo Boys, Nature’s Milkshake #3, Hyper Star, and many others.

Continuing her love of zines, Rainey and some friends organized and hosted the first St. Louis Small Press Expo at URB Arts and Central Print in Old North St. Louis in September of 2014. In Nicole Rainey’s own words, “Zines are funky, hard to understand, and often free. Nobody is trying to get famous from them or make any real money. They’re just about sharing ideas, art, and community. I love them!”

To read more information on Nicole Rainey’s zine collection in her own words, visit the Collect O’Rama table located on Level 2 of Olin Library in Risa’s Landing.

A circular table with hundreds of zine booklets displayed under a glass case.
Nicole Rainey’s personal zine collection is displayed in the Collect O’Rama case.