Glasgow Community Climate Action Fund has provided £1,675 of match funding
A wheelchair accessible Glasgow Zine Library!
Glasgow, Glasgow City, United Kingdom
Aim
Glasgow Zine Library is moving to an exciting new space! We need your help to make it wheelchair accessible!
Who are we?
Glasgow Zine Library (Scottish Charity, SC050309) is a self-publishing library and community arts space located on the south side of Glasgow. We host a year-round programme of affordable, accessible arts and heritage events, hold a collection of around 2000 zines, and organise the annual Glasgow Zine Fest.
Our mission is one of democratising participation in the arts, providing opportunities for skill-sharing, and supporting the progression of everyone involved in our programme, whether they are a facilitator, participant, visitor to the library, volunteer, staff member, or anyone else engaging with what we offer. Last year we had over 4,000 attendees at 119 events, and over 245 artists, facilitators and access workers were involved.
What is a zine, and why is a zine library important?
A zine (pronounced 'zeen') is most commonly a handmade publication often made in small circulations, printed and bound using various methods and sizes. The topics are on absolutely anything you can imagine. Zines have historically been a platform for marginalised people to engage, express their ideas, document experiences and create alternative DIY methods of making, sharing, and community building. There are no specific skills required to make a zine, typically just a pen, some paper and an idea!
Our library collects, preserves, and shares zines. Many groups, organisations, forms of activism, or events make zines as a way of sharing their stories, which may not be readily available in more mainstream libraries or forms of publishing. Glasgow Zine Library (GZL) uses our collection as a jumping off point for community programmes, which includes talks, workshops, screenings, support groups, reading groups, performances, and so much more. We've worked with organisations across Glasgow to bring the principles of zine-making to schools, community groups, universities, colleges, prisons, and more.
We know that what we offer can have a greater impact for our community if we make it accessible to all.
What are we doing now?
GZL is moving! We’ve identified a new space right in the heart of Govanhill on Albert Road that is significantly bigger, more central, and more suitable for our needs, than our current site on Cathcart Road.
With this space, we’ll be able to increase our offerings for local community groups, increase the number of people that can attend our events, have more zines on display, offer a dedicated space for those reading them or taking part in workshops AND provide regular access to a making space for people who want to produce their own zines! Our new location also comes with a five year lease, which gives us the stability and breathing room we have needed for some time.
We are fundraising to make this new space wheelchair accessible before we open to the public. The premises currently has two bathrooms right next to each other, as well as a kitchen and several rooms with steps up into them. Our planned refurbishments will involve the removal of two stud walls that separate out the kitchen and two toilets, creating an accessible bathroom and kitchen, in addition to laying an even floor with no steps required.
Why?
Accessibility is the foundation of everything that we do; reducing the barriers that it takes for someone to engage with us is very central to our mission.
We know that access measures can encompass so many things, from BSL and captioning to low lighting and noise, to providing financially accessible ticketing or places for rest.
Our current space on Cathcart Road was an exciting and welcome change when we moved in in 2019, however we have quickly outgrown it and have come to understand its limitations. In addition to having limited floor space for our events and collection to coexist, it is also too small for wheelchair users and unsuitable to have an accessible bathroom put in.
How?
We’re hiring a contractor and we’ve consulted with an architect on a preliminary basis.
We’ve already had a few quotes to base the cost of this work around, and we’re seeking the most competitive.
We will have access to the space from February, with the work scheduled to take place in March.
"Aren’t you guys already funded?"
Yes, to a certain extent!
We receive project costs from a number of amazing places such as Creative Scotland, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, National Heritage Lottery, Glasgow City Council’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund, Magic Little Grants, and Thriving Govanhill, to name a few.
As a registered SCIO (Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation) since 2020, we have had our accounts audited yearly, and you can view details about our funding and accounting on the OSCR website.
The funds that we receive are earmarked for specific core costs (rent, salaries, utilities) and project costs (events, our current heritage archiving project, Glasgow Zine Fest); we do not receive funding for capital costs (building, construction, refurbishment).
What happens if we get funding for this while we're crowdfunding?
We are applying for grants that specifically help with the costs of making spaces wheelchair accessible. Unfortunately, there are very few funders that support this kind of cost, and some of the criteria can be quite limiting (requiring ownership of the building, or a certain income threshold which we, as a small charity, don’t meet). However, if we are successful in securing any of these grants to cover the full cost of accessibility refurbishment, we will cancel our crowdfunder and return 100% of the donations. If we receive small grants that don’t cover the full cost, we will update our goal on this crowdfunder to reflect that.
We know that we are all experiencing a cost of living crisis, and people may not have the money to donate to our fundraiser. We want to ensure that anyone who does donate feels confident that we are spending their money transparently and responsibly.
Would you like to support us in a different way?
Yes, you can:
- Buy a ticket to one of our upcoming events!
- Purchase something from our online shop!
- Subscribe to our Patreon!
- Follow us on social media and share our crowdfunder with your network!
- If you’d like to help in other ways, we’d love to hear from you! Send us an email with your idea at [email protected]
Budget breakdown
- Downtakings & Joinery: £ 10,313
- This is our greatest expense. This includes taking out walls, building new ones, levelling out the floor throughout the entire space, stripping out the kitchen and both bathrooms, reworking parts of the ceiling, and widening two doorways to make them regulation width for wheelchair users.
- Plumbing & Heating: £ 1,970.00
- This is the supply and fitting of our new bathroom and kitchen.
- Electrical: £ 1,350.00
- This will include disconnecting and putting in new lighting, switches, putting in new power sockets, and then having everything tested for safety
- Decoration: £ 0
- All of our new doorways and walls will need to be painted, we aim to do this ourselves!
- Preliminary Costs: £ 3,360.00
- This is the cost of waste removal, management of the whole project, and cleanup of the space upon completion of it
Proposed Timeline
- 1st of February - Crowdfunder begins
- Mid-March - Crowdfunder ends
- March - work begins and ends
- April/Mid-April - opening of new zine library space
- April/May - Rewards created and delivered
Work of this nature can be flexible and subject to changing timescales. We will keep all supporters informed every step of the way with regular updates, news and photos through the official Crowdfunder channels. We'll also update everyone as to the status of their rewards as we have more information!
Thank you so much for your interest in our project. We're really excited to get started! If you have any questions feel free to message us on social media or email us at [email protected]
- The GZL Team
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Image descriptions and credit (top-to-bottom)
Header Image: A collage of images. Clockwise from top left: 1) A person stands up a ladder painting a blue shop sign. The words Glasgow Zine can be seen in white and yellow letters can be seen. Photo credit: GZL. 2) A set of shelves made of OSB chipboard, filled with zines poking out of the top. Photo credit: GZL. 3) A group of people all wearing matching shirts pose for a photo against a stone wall. Photo credit: Jen Martin. 4) A person stands at the front of the zine library, reading out loud from a book. In front of her are several rows of listeners with their backs to the camera. Photo credit: GZL. 5) A floorplan of a building. It shows various divided rooms with notes that indicate work that is to be done. Centre-left is a detailed image of how a wheelchair accessible bathroom and kitchen will look. 6) Two people stand on stop of ladders unscrewing light fixtures from a speckled drop-ceiling. Photo credit: GZL. 7) A group of people sit around a table against a window, using pens and paper to make zines. Photo credit: GZL.
Image 1: The inside of the current zine library. Two sets of front-facing shelves full of colourful zines sit on a dark blue wood-panelled wall. On the other wall are two freestanding shelving units made of OSB chipboard, also full of zines. In the middle taking up the floorspace are two dark blue armchairs, a set of folding chairs around a small round table, and the edge of a longer folding trestle table. In the background is a workstation and a supply room. (Photo Credit: GZL)
Image 2: A top-down view of a large hall with wood-panelled walls and a large black curtain at the far end. Decorated tables full of zines and art prints run in vertical rows. People in the thoroughfare mingle with people sitting behind the tables. (Photo credit Jen Martin)
Image 3: A close up view of a set of tiered shelves made from OSB chipboard against a dark blue wall. Zines poke out of the top of them, arranged by categories like “Pop Culture” “Feminism” and “Community Languages” (photo credit GZL)
Image 4: An top down view of a room. It is an artists impression of how the wheelchair accessible lavatory and kitchen will look. A galley kitchen sits against a back wall. On the right there is a wheelchair inside of a lavatory, featuring handrails, a sink, and mirror. The door to the lavatory is open.
Image 5: A ground floor view of a market inside of a large room. People sit at rows of decorated tables talking to people on the other side who are browsing their zines. (Image credit Jen Martin)
Image 6: A child stands in the zine library, between a yellow bench seat and a folding table, holding up a drawing to the camera that obscures their face. On the table are two more finger paintings of vegetable shapes. (Image credit Rudy Kanhye)
Image 7: A person stands at the front of the zine library, reading out loud from a book. In front of them are several rows of listeners with their backs to the camera. (Image credit GZL)
Image 8: A group of people sit and talk in front of an audience in a cinema room with red seats. Behind them is a screen on which captions are being written. (Image credit Jen Martin)
Image 9: A group of people sit around a table, using blue ink and wooden letters to print messages onto fabric. In the background an art exhibition lines the walls (Image credit Jen Martin)
Image 10: A floorplan of a building. It shows various divided rooms with notes that indicate work that is to be done. Centre-left is a detailed image of how a wheelchair accessible bathroom and kitchen will look
Image 10: Two people sit at a table and talk in front of an audience in a cinema room with red seats and red beanbags. A BSL interpreter sits next to them Behind them is a screen on which captions are being written. (Image credit Jen Martin)
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This project successfully funded on 31st March 2023