Round Table “Portuguese Network of Specialized Libraries | 2nd Edition”

Date: Setember 21, 2024

The “Round Table – Portuguese Network of Specialized Libraries | 2nd Edition” will take place in Alpiarça on Saturday, September 21, 2024, as part of the program of the 2nd Alpiarça Fanzine and Comic Book Festival. This event will be held at 2:00 PM at the Alpiarça Market.

The discussion, organized by the Municipality of Alpiarça and led by Miguel Correia (Aveiro Fanzineteca), brings together in one place the various leaders of a wide range of libraries dedicated to fanzines and comic books.

The distinguished participants include: Ogata Tetsuo (Coimbra Fanzineteca), Miguel Correia (Aveiro Fanzineteca), Sérgio Santos and Marco Fraga da Silva (H-Alt Digital Bedeteca), Mário André and Rui Gaspar (Alpiarça Fanzineteca), Paulo Monteiro (Beja Bedeteca), Carla Gonçalves (Caldas da Rainha Library), Marcos Farrajota (Lisbon Bedeteca), and José Pacheco Pereira (Ephemera Archive).

This event will be an excellent opportunity for each participant to present the projects they represent and, moreover, to continue the dialogue on the framework in which foundations can be laid for the creation of a Portuguese network of fanzinetecas, bedetecas, and specialized libraries in alternative and artist publications.

This idea was first introduced by Miguel Correia at the initial session of this conversation held in Aveiro on June 26, 2024, during Zine City 2024, and will be further explored on this occasion.

The panel of invited speakers for Alpiarça represents a group of individuals and entities considered true guardians of independent publications. These publications, which have an ephemeral and free nature, are, for this very reason and due to some lack of centralization or defined criteria for archiving and cataloging, somewhat subject to dispersion.

The aim of this round table is to unite efforts and spark discussion about the best strategies and measures to be taken jointly to standardize the treatment and access to these publications.

This initiative is considered important because these editions are an important testimony of alternative cultures and evidence of expressions in visual arts, music, cinema, and literature, which usually exist marginally relative to mainstream trends and, therefore, must be preserved.

The main objectives for creating a network of this nature are:

-To encourage a spirit of interaction among the various specialized libraries in Portugal.
-To facilitate the touring of exhibitions of publications to several locations across the country.
-To promote conferences related to independent publishing and its surrounding themes.
-To ease the exchange of copies among the various participants.
-To work towards creating a common set of cataloging criteria for fanzines.
-To seek a consensual definition of the term “fanzine” and some related concepts.
-o share experiences and opinions.

For the mentioned network, 20 entities have currently been identified in Portugal. This research is ongoing, and the list may be expanded to include more libraries that have not yet identified themselves.

All those interested in comic books, fanzines, and alternative cultures are invited to attend this discussion in Alpiarça, which is sure to be lively, interesting, and an important moment for exchanging ideas.