a visit to the ottawa trans library
Since arriving back at school, I've decided that I'm going to make a strong(er) effort to find the little corners and niches that I fit in, just like I've found at home. Over the summer, I heard a lot of rumblings (mainly from a volunteer that visited) at the zine library about the Ottawa Trans Library, specifically that they also have zines.
Now that I'm back at school, I decided to trek out just to check it out. Although I'm not trans, I am a big lover of libraries and archiving so it seemed like the perfect place to check out on a rainy day like today.
The volunteers there were incredibly welcoming, and I felt right at home sitting with a little pile of zines to read. A neighbourhood outdoor cat named Ludwig stopped by as well, and went straight to the front desk for treats. Later in my visit, the volunteer who I saw earlier in the summer came in, and I had a little chat with her about the zine library back at home. So cool how people can have multiple meetings in such different spots!
The collection of zines here was much smaller than at the zine library (naturally since it's not a dedicated zine library), however the ones they had were amazing! Many by local zinesters, lots of poetry and per-zines, all my jam.
The one thing that I did find though that was incredible was an exhibitor list for an Ottawa small publishing festival that happened over the summer. Now, my zine resource list is much fuller, and I have so many more leads to find the people and places I'm looking for!
Back in first year, I always pitted Ottawa against my home as the more boring, school-oriented counterpart of my life's locations. Now that I'm back, I'm seeing that there's so much more to see if I just take the time and effort to find it.
In an email chain with Sam a while back, they told me about Pique, the (arguably) biggest Ottawa arts-oriented festival of the year. I've gone twice now, and had a blast both times. The first time, I got a zine from the artists area that ended up being the basis for my first accordion zine later down the line. Just from a quick email about one of their posts I found out about one of my favourite events!
I left the Trans Library with so much more intel on the happenings of the queer, artist spaces of the city. So much is possible when you open yourself up to others. Or when you get your ass out of bed even if it's pouring outside. Both are true!