Announcing the Texas State University Artists' Books Collection Digital Exhibit!!

The Texas State University Artists' Books Collection Digital Exhibit is a sampling of the artists' books in the whole Artists’ Books Collection. There are 20 total artists’ books in the digital online exhibit. 

An artists' book is a book that is handmade or has an interesting form. It is nontraditional and is often rare, limited edition, and may include signed prints. It can be a box with several printed things in it, or it can be a sculpture. In this online exhibition you will see several examples of these characteristics. The Artists' Books Collection includes the entire Zine Collection too. 

In order to ensure these rare books are kept safe, most of them are securely stored either in Special Collections & Archives or off campus in a climate-controlled facility called the Archives and Research Center, making this digital exhibition a unique chance to view these materials. This digital exhibition aims to give the artists’ books exposure and provide inspiration if you are making your own artists’ book. To navigate through the exhibition, you can preview some of the images of the artists' books on the Home page and then use the stacked menu in the right-hand corner, or you can use the Next buttons at the bottom of the pages. 

The Texas State University Artists' Books Collection Digital Exhibit was created by Tara Spies Smith, College of Fine Arts & Communication Liaison Librarian and Open Licenses Librarian in cooperation with the University Libraries Digitization and Preservation Department, the Special Collections & Archives Department, and the artists of the artists’ books in the digital exhibit. 

All of the artists’ or publishers were contacted for permission for their artists’ books to be digitized and exhibited online in the exhibition. 

Look for more announcements this semester about a physical exhibition of the artists’ books that are in the digital exhibit and a reception for the digital exhibition in the spring. 

For questions related to the exhibit or the Artists' Books Collection you can contact Tara at ts20@txstate.edu

New ARLIS/NA Notable Graphic Novels Review 2024 Edition is Now Available!

Announicing the latest edition of the ARLIS/NA Notable Graphic Novels Review! This edition includes reviews for 10 titles that were published in 2024 (reviews were written in 2025), plus an appendix of nominations. All reviews can be downloaded as accessible PDFs from the NGNR Knowledge Commons and are also linked individually on their website pages.

We encourage you to use the Bookshop links within each review in order to purchase titles, as ARLIS/NA receives 10% commission on each purchase made through our bookshop.org links.

Special thanks to our reviewers for volunteering their time:

Elizabeth Brown, Instruction & Outreach Librarian, Kraemer Family Library, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs

Aurora Daniel, MA History and MS Library and Information Science Student, Simmons University

Matthew Garklavs, Electronic Resources Librarian, Pratt Institute Libraries

Anne Kavanagh, Librarian, Collections and Licensing Services, University of Windsor

Erin Murray, Library Project Cataloger, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Lizzie Nagy, Library Assistant at National Art School, Sydney, Australia

Lauren Scanlon, Teaching & Learning Specialist, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Sarah Scarr, Arts Collections Curator, Virginia Commonwealth University

Mimosa Shah, Reference Librarian, Schlesinger Library, Harvard Radcliffe Institute

Taylor Strong, Research and Instruction Librarian, Savannah College of Art and Design

The primary objective of the Notable Graphic Novels Review is to acknowledge and celebrate the craft of sequential art from the last year by tapping into the experience and love of this medium from ARLIS/NA members. As a result, this annual publication can assist (art) library workers in improving their own institutional collections of graphic novels by providing summaries, critical evaluations, and informed recommendations.

Cheers!

Giana Ricci, giana.ricci@nyu.edu, co-editor

Tara Spies Smith, ts20@txstate.edu, co-editor

New 2023 Edition of the ARLIS/NA Notable Graphic Novels Review!

 

We are pleased to announce that the latest edition of the Notable Graphic Novels Review is available to read on the Notable Graphic Novels Review ARLIS/NA Knowledge Commons site: https://notablegraphicnovels.arlisna.hcommons.org/. This edition includes reviews for 10 titles that were published in 2023 (reviews were written in 2024), plus an appendix of nominations. Special thanks to our reviewers for volunteering their time:  

Isamar Abreu Gómez, Librarian, Colección de las Artes y Música, Sistema de Bibliotecas, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras

Eugénie Fortier, Storage and Retrieval Lead, Frick Art Research Library

Liza Hazelwood, Lead Collections Care Technician, Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries

Stephanie Jacobs, Librarian for The College of the Arts, University of South Florida Libraries

Beata Kozlowski, Research and Instruction Librarian, Savannah College of Art and Design

Kat Lewis, Special Projects Curator, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections

Maggie McDonald, MLS and MA Curatorship Candidate, Indiana University

Tannaz Motevalli, Information Literacy and Instructional Design Librarian, Decker Library, Maryland Institute College of Art

Lisa Rand, Reference and Instruction Librarian, Penn State Lehigh Valley

More information on the Notable Graphic Novels Review: The primary objective of this list is to acknowledge and celebrate the craft of sequential art from the previous year by tapping into the experience and love of this medium from ARLIS/NA members. As a result, this annual publication can assist (art) library workers in improving their own institutional collections of graphic novels by providing summaries, critical evaluations, and informed recommendations.

Cheers!

Tara Spies Smith, ts20@txstate.edu, co-editor

Giana Ricci, giana.ricci@nyu.edu, co-editor

Announcing the 2022 Edition of ARLIS/NA Notable Graphic Novels Review (NGNR)

 

We are pleased to announce that the latest edition of the Notable Graphic Novels Review (NGNR) is now available. With the help of ARLIS/NA members, a total of 21 graphic novels published in 2022 were nominated and the following 10 finalists were selected for review:

Dog Biscuits by Alex Graham
Reviewed by Frances Lilliston, Assistant Librarian, Cataloging, Museum of Modern Art

The High Desert: Black. Punk. Nowhere. by James Spooner
Reviewed by Ryan King, English Librarian, Vanderbilt University

Invisible Wounds: Graphic Journalism by Jess Ruliffson
Reviewed by Maggie Murphy, Art & Design Librarian, UNC Greensboro

Keeping Two by Jordan Crane
Reviewed by Jacob Lackner, Teaching and Learning Librarian, Oxford College of Emory University

Men I Trust by Tommi Parrish
Reviewed by Caroline Meyers, Research and Collections Specialist, VCU Special Collections and Archives

M is for Monster by Talia Dutton 
Reviewed by Door Williams, Reference Librarian, Freeman Library/Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Other Ever Afters: New Queer Fairy Tales by Melanie Gillman
Reviewed by Steph Noell, Special Collections Librarian, University of Texas at San Antonio

Welcome to St. Hell: My Trans Teen Misadventure by Lewis Hancox
Reviewed by Erin Carney, Arts Librarian for Drama, Theatre, and Performance Studies, Yale University

Voices That Count: A Comics Anthology by Women by Diana Lopez Varela, Maria Hesse, Leticia Dolera, Lola Garcia and Sandra Sabates
Reviewed by  June Bendich, Evening Access Services Coordinator, Pratt Institute Libraries

Wash Day Diaries by Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith
Reviewed by Shandy Frey, Research and Instruction Librarian, Savannah College of Art and Design

Reviews for all 10 finalist titles can be found on the NGNR wordpress site along with the archive of past reviews back until 2016. Accessible PDF versions of the reviews are linked on each individual page as well as deposited in the ARLIS/NA Humanities Commons Core Repository. Additional 2022 nominations can be found here.

The primary objective of this NGNR is to acknowledge and celebrate the craft of sequential art from the last year by tapping into the experience and love of this medium from ARLIS/NA members. As a result, this annual publication can assist (art) library workers in improving their own institutional collections of graphic novels by providing summaries, critical evaluations, and informed recommendations.

Thank you to all of our nominators and authors! It has been a pleasure working on this year’s NGNR publication.

All the best,
Giana Ricci and Tara Spies-Smith
Co-Editors, NGNR

ArtWorks in the Community: Call for Art!

Contact Sean Justice for assistance with getting your artwork in the exhibition at the San Marcos Activity Center

 

Call For Artists - Zinemakers for 1st TXST Zine Fest!

 

Use the QR Code below in the flyer to submit your application for the first ever TXST Zine Fest!!

Deadline Feb 28th, 2023.

TXST Zine Fest April 19, 2023

LBJ Grand Ballroom

Questions? Email TXSTZINEFEST@GMAIL.COM

THE ILLUSTRATORS OF LEWIS CARROLL’S ALICE IN WONDERLAND EXHIBIT

Come and see The Illustrators of Lewis Carroll’s Alice In Wonderland exhibit on the 4th floor of Alkek Library by the elevators. This is an exhibition of the illustrators of the different editions of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. 

The original illustrator and most frequently featured is John Tenniel. The exhibit also features a rare Black Sun Press edition illustrated with French artist and illustrator, Marie Laurencin's six colored lithographs. 

The exhibit runs June 1 - July 31st, 2022.

Illustration from The Nursery "Alice", containing twenty coloured enlargements from Tenniel's illustrations to "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," with text adapted to nursery readers by Lewis Carroll. (London: Macmillan and Co. 1890) (Taken from British Library item Cup.410.g.74), John Tenniel, 1890. This work is in the public domain.

New 2020 Edition of the Notable Graphic Novels Review on new ARLIS/NA Humanities Commons site!

We are pleased to announce the latest edition of the Notable Graphic Novels Review is available to read on the newly created Notable Graphic Novels Review ARLIS/NA Humanities Commons site: https://notablegraphicnovels.arlisna.hcommons.org/. This edition includes reviews for 11 titles that were published in 2020 (reviews were written in 2021), plus an appendix of nominations. Special thanks to our reviewers for volunteering their time: Amelia Foster, Mimosa Shah, Giana Ricci, Claire Payne, Rebecca Bruner, Callie Cherry, Stephanie Kays, Katrina Spencer, Emily Decker-Bess, Alison Baitz, and Dai Newman.

More information on the Notable Graphic Novels Review: 

The primary objective of this list is to acknowledge and celebrate the craft of sequential art from the last year by tapping into the experience and love of this medium from ARLIS/NA members. As a result, this annual publication can assist (art) library workers in improving their own institutional collections of graphic novels by providing summaries, critical evaluations, and informed recommendations.

 

 

Come learn what a zine is, where to find them at zine fests and libraries, and how to make your own zine. Art & Design Librarian, Tara Smith, will host guest presenters,Yes Ma'am zine creators, Elle Minter & Suzy Gonzales (Texas State alumni artists) for the 10 year anniversary of the first issue of their zine,Yes Ma'am that they made at Alkek Library. 

Check out the exhibit to accompany the workshop on the 2nd floor with issues of their zines, photographs, and memorabilia related to 2011 when they made the first issue of their zine. 

The Zine Workshop is open to everyone. TXST-affiliated attendees should register for the Zine Workshop here.

Learn more about the Alkek Library Zine Collection here

Hope to see you at the Zine Workshop!

Exhibit: The Painters And Paintings In Marcel Proust’s Novel 'In Search Of Lost Time - A La Recherche Du Temps Perdu'

There are over one hundred paintings by painters from all over the world that Proust writes about in the volumes of his novel, In Search Of Lost Time - A la recherche du temps perdu.

In the exhibit located on the 3rd floor of Alkek Library, across from the Checkout Desk, you can see books from the library's collection of art books that feature a few of the painters Proust writes about in his novel. 

You can also see a French edition of Proust's novel in fifteen volumes and the book that inspired the exhibit, Paintings in Proust: A Visual Companion to 'In Search of Lost Time' by Eric Karpeles.

Virtual Zine Workshop this Friday!

Come learn what a zine is, where to find them at zine fests and libraries, and how to make your own zine. Art & Design Librarian, Tara Smith, will host guest presenters, Jennifer Hecker (Librarian, Archivist at Austin History Center, and Austin Lone Star Zine Fest Coordinator) and 'Yes Ma'am' zine creators, Elle Minter & Suzy Gonzales (Texas State alumni artists). 

 

The Zine Workshop is open to everyone. TXST-affiliated attendees should sign up here to receive the Zoom link. Attendees who are not affiliated with Texas State should email ts20@txstate.edu for the Zoom link.

New Notable Graphic Novels Review!

 Dear colleagues,

The latest edition of the Notable Graphic Novels Review is available to read here: https://arlisna.org/publications/notable-graphic-novels-review. This edition includes reviews for 12 titles that were published in 2019 (reviews were written in 2020), plus an appendix of nominations. Thank you all for your patience as we figured out how to adjust our process this last year. And special thanks to our reviewers for volunteering their time: Claire Payne, Courtney Baron, Lora Farrell, Jasper Lastoria, Vaughan Hennen, Jennifer Martinez Wormser, Stephanie Kays, Missy Brown, Katy Parker, Lauren Scanlon, Dai Newman, and Rebekah Scoggins.

More information on the Notable Graphic Novels Review: The primary objective of this list is to acknowledge and celebrate the craft of sequential art from the last year by tapping into the experience and love of this medium from ARLIS/NA members. As a result, this annual publication can assist (art) library workers in improving their own institutional collections of graphic novels by providing summaries, critical evaluations, and informed recommendations.

Wishing you all well!

Andrew Wang, aandrewwangg@gmail.com

Tara Spies Smith, ts20@txstate.edu

Notable Graphic Novels Review Co-editors

Art & Protest Exhibit on 3rd Floor & 1st Floor of Alkek Library

Check out the Art & Protest Exhibit with books about art and protest, art and social action, art and politics, and art and social justice. The exhibit is located in the glass case by the elevators on the third floor of Alkek Library and right next to the Zines Exhibit. 

There is also a cart on the first floor with more books related to art and protest that are available to be browsed and checked out.

New Alkek Library Zine Collection - 3rd Floor!

Come check out the new Alkek Library Zine Collection on the 3rd floor! Browse through bags with exact copies of the covers of the zines in the collection. Once you find some bags with covers that look cool, take the bag the Checkout Desk and they will get the full zine for you to check out.

Visit the Zines Research Guide to find out what a zine is, how to find them in the catalog and in the library, how to make zines, and more!

Introduction to Using Artstor Image Database

In this video you will see how to create image groups and make presentations as well as export your presentations to PowerPoint.
 

Zines! In the Collection at Alkek Exhibit

The Zines! In the Collection at Alkek exhibit is on the 3rd Floor near the Graphic Novel Collection. It features Texas State faculty, student, and alumni zines. There are also cultural and social commentary zines, pop culture icon themed zines, and zines about zines! Here is a list of all the zines in the exhibit . See more info on the Zines Research Guide. Please contact me, Tara Spies Smith, if you have any questions or if you want to see any of the zines in the exhibit.

Alkek Library Maker Day is Coming Soon! April 30th!

Come create with us at Alkek Library Maker Day on April 30th in Alkek 105/106 from 10AM - 4PM.

Make a Zine Workshop April 3rd!

Come to the Alkek Maker Day Make a Zine workshop on Wednesday, April 3 from 11am-3pm! Learn about the culture of zines and the library's zine collection and create your own mini magazine or mini comic. Publish what you believe in and share what inspires you! Supplies will be provided, including paper, pencils, marker, paint, scissors, and more. See our Maker Day guide for more info:
guides.library.txstate.edu…

Location	Alkek 105/106
Campus Location	Alkek Library

Alternative Processes & Integrated Media Competition Deadline Extended to 11/16

The Texas Photographic Society has extended their deadline to Friday November 16 for the Alternative Processes & Integrated Media Competition, juried by Christopher James.

Read more about the competition and then submit your work here!

Introduction to Cyanotype Printing Workshop Oct 30th

Come learn how to make basic cyanotypes or sun prints!

When: Oct. 30th
Where: Alkek 105/106
Time: 11AM - 3PM
Sign up for the workshop here

See more about the workshop and library related books and links on our Introduction to Cyanotype Printing Workshop guide

We hope to spend some time in the sun making prints with you that day!