STORY BY JANA GREGORIO
Sheridan’s Trafalgar campus library is usually a place of quiet and solitude, but last week was a notable exception.
The annual Library Awareness Week drew a steady stream of students to the library for fun and activities.
The Zine Fest kicked off the event where art students from illustration to animation set up booths to showcase their artwork.
Illustration student Jesse DeNobrega and classmate Olivia Ongai teamed up with the library to organize the event as part of Library Awareness.
“Basically last year, me and Olivia were talking and we were like, ‘This school needs a zine festival because they’re really, really cool and fun,’” he said. “It’s a good way for everyone to show off their stuff, especially in a cheap way.”
Students flocked to the library to look and buy the zines, posters and stickers on display.
“A zine is just a little booklet of whatever you want. A lot of people do comics, I just have my drawings, and you make them yourself,” said Ashley Wong, a second year illustration student.
Wong’s booth was filled with her various sketches and art centred on fashion and clothing. Not new to the zine scene, Wong has showcased her work at CanZine, Canada’s largest festival of zines and underground culture.
“I like selling these things,” she said. “It’s fun talking to people, just making physical things, I think it’s really fun.”
Christine Wong, vice-president of the Comic Making Club at Sheridan and a second year animation student, has also been to CanZine and is setting her sights on the Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF), the biggest comic arts festival in Canada.
She represented the club at the Zine Fest by supporting and showcasing the collection of works from all her members.
“We’re really trying to promote artists making money for themselves, being able to make their comics and getting paid for it,” said Christine.
DeNobrega was happy with the turnout and hopes to host another Zine Fest next semester.
He believes it’s a great way for Sheridan students to learn more about their peers’ works.
“I feel like a lot of times, when I walk around, I don’t see everybody’s stuff,” he said. “I don’t know what kind of stuff people are making, so it’s cool to see.”
There was also a book sale happening just outside the library.
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Ann Ortega, the library and reference technician, says the book sale has been one of the most popular events for the past five years, attracting many students.
“We just want to remind the students that we’re here, and to promote our resources so they understand what we offer to them,” said Ortega. “We are not only books. We also have a lot of online resources as well.”
Other events planned over the week were the Draw a Librarian and a presentation on the database Material Connexion, a world leader in material innovation with one of the world’s largest subscription-based materials library.
The Material Connexion is a good database for the interior decorator and interior design students to get to know what resources are available in the library, said Ortega.
Azadeh Monzavi, a peer mentor, was promoting the database on the second day of the event. She stood by a table filled with innovative materials, with some made out of organic fibres or environmentally friendly substances like tapioca starch or leaves and hayflowers.
“A lot of things are recycled, reusing materials,” said Monzavi. “It’s more energy efficient.”
Students were asked to touch several items and guess the materials it was made from. Some of the objects on display were kitchen tiles made out of old skateboards, and a piece of board created from polyethylene, coated beverage cartons, cups and other paper products.
Monzavi then inputted the codes into the database, which gave more information on what the objects were made from and their potential uses. The students were given free headphones at the end of the demonstration.
Library Awareness Week was held at all three campuses, with each campus promoting databases based on their students’ specific needs.
Peer mentors collaborated with library supervisors to make and organize the Library Awareness.
