MSRRT NEWSLETTER

Library Alternatives
February 1996 v.9 #1

In this Issue

msrrt

MSRRT Newsletter's alternative news, views, and resource listings were sent via snail mail to members of the Minnesota Library Association Social Responsibilities Round Table (MSRRT). Others subscribed by making a donation ($15 suggested) payable to MLA/MSRRT. Editors: Chris Dodge/Jan DeSirey.

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More Fun For All

 Self-righteous puritans who want to proscribe materials that aren't "politically correct"? Agenda-driven eggheads with a ready-made prescription for every problem? Two l etters in the December issue of _Library Journal_ rail against "filth" in libraries and decry "the leftist, homosexual, minority, and other groups who constantly support...censorship of 'hate language,' 'Western-biased curriculum,' 'homophobic language,' and 'non-inclusive materials.' Since names aren't named, we wonder who they are talking about. The Social Responsibilities Round Table? ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom? Profiling MSRRT in the _Twin Cities Reader _("Access activists," January 24), m ember Randy Beard focuses on the round table's efforts to promote diversity and equality. Sandy Berman has it right there, we think: "As corny as it may sound, we want to make the world better, fairer and more fun;" but _for all_, we might add. Wake up, people: cultural diversity is a fact of life; "English-only" and ethnic cleansing don't cut it. The world is a happier, saner place with real freedom of choice. Punk rock, gamelan music, Mozart and Harry Partch are each transcendentally beautiful--or go dawful--depending on the listener. Why be satisfied with bland, ready-made, status quo libraries? Sure, we're for awakening the complacent and goading the comfortable. We've had enough vendor-driven public library collections with their shitloads of heav ily hyped fiction, travel guides, and books on business success. It's time to serve more than an upper middle class clientele. Does your library subscribe to the insipid _Playboy_ but shun erotic videos? Buy music reviewed in _Rolling Stone_ but not in _ Rap Pages_ or _Maximumrocknroll_? How many of Kathy Acker's books are in your collection? _Pussy, king of the pirates_ (1996)? _Pussycat fever _(1995)? Earlier works like _My mother : demonology_ (1993), _Hannibal Lecter, my father_ (1991), _Kathy go es to Haiti_ (1990), _Young lust_ (1989), _Hello, I'm Erica Jong_ (1988), _Blood & guts in high school _ (1986), or _I dreamt I was a nymphomaniac imagining_ (1980)? No more selection based on fear!

"What sets the world in motion is the interplay of di fferences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and peculiarities, by eliminating different civilizations and cultures, progress weakens life and favors death. The ideal of a single civili zation for everyone, implicit in the cult of progress and technique, impoverishes and mutilates us. Every view of the world that becomes extinct, every culture that disappears, diminishes the possibility of life."
--Octavio Paz

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Round Table News

 MSRRT welcomes new steering committee members Pam Keesey (Resource Center of the Americas) and Michele McGraw (Hennepin County's Southdale Area Library). They join returning steerers Cathy Camper, Cathy Hoffman, and Ali Turner. Many thanks are due to Kim Edson and Art Stoeberl who have completed two-year terms, the past year as co-coordinators. Michele McGraw is the new MSRRT coordinator for 1996 (612-830-4865).

In the works for next fall's MLA conference in St. Cloud are a possible keynote tal k by author Susie Bright, a program on women, children and economic justice (contact Sandy Berman), and a session covering breast cancer and women's health information (Jan DeSirey or Ali Turner).

Condolences to Sandy Berman whose mother died in January .

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Media News

 The following is _not_ an April Fool's joke. Careful readers of the _Star Tribune_ learned from the paper's January 30 "Business" section (p.D1) that the new editor of Minneapolis-based _Utne Reader _ is Hugh Delehunty, "a _People_ m agazine editor who supervised coverage of the British royal family." Purportedly digesting "the best of the alternative media," _Utne_ has long been under fire for its move toward the mainstream. _MSRRT_ reader Leavenworth Jackson reports mixed feelings about the _Twin Cities Reader_'s piece on Eric Utne and _Utne Reader_ ("Media news", December 1995). Though finding "the whole thing...rather mean-spirited," she is reminded of David Mamet's contention that "'promote' is Hollywood slang for 'exploit'" and wonders whether _Utne_ promotes alternative press. An unpublished paper by zines scholar Stephen Duncombe cites a 1937 essay by Walter Benjamin ("The author as producer") which touches upon the same issue. According to Duncombe, Benjamin emphasized t hat "the critical political content of a piece of work does not necessarily make it radical, or effective politically." Photographs of poor people exhibited in Germany between the world wars and supposedly intended to raise viewers' consciousness, inste ad rendered "poverty aesthetic, thus... making it something contemplative and outside of political struggle." Benjamin's argument, says Duncombe, is that "the progressive potential of a work" lies not in its _attitude_ toward inequities and injustices th at mark our society, but where it actually stands within "the oppressive relations of pro-duction." Regarding _Utne_, stay tuned.

Art Resources Transfer is a nonprofit organization providing "books about important art and cultural issues free of cha rge to rural and inner-city public libraries through the Distribution to Underserved Communities (D.U.C.) program." The program offers not only books published with the A.R.T. Press imprint (heavily illustrated trade paperbacks featuring "artist-to-artis t" interviews), but also selected material from several independent publishers (e.g., Bay Press, City Lights, Sun & Moon) and titles from the Lannan Literary Video series. For more information: 5820 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 402, Los Angeles, CA 90036, 213-93 6-3039, FAX: 213-936-2338, artpress@wavenet.com.

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ALA Midwinter

 At the American Library Association's Midwinter Meeting in San Antonio last month, the Social Responsibilities Round Table's Action Council passed a measure urging the Library of Cong ress to replace sexist subject headings, approved a resolution supporting sanctions against Nigeria, and endorsed Barbara Ford for ALA President. A modified version of the Nigeria resolution was later passed by the American Library Association's Council (see below) after stiff debate. MSRRT was represented by Kim Edson, and indirectly by Sandy Berman in his role as coordinator of SRRT's Task Force on Hunger, Homelessness, and Poverty. The latter met for the first time ever, with members discussing pro gram plans for New York ("Poor People and Libraries: What's the Con-nection?" is tentatively scheduled for July 6) and for San Francisco in 1997 (a session on fees and fines). The Task Force also hopes to compile a book, "perhaps modeled on McFarland's _Gay and lesbian library service_", and asks that contributions (essays, bibliographies, directories, "Libraries Change Lives" statements written by poor and homeless people) and suggestions be sent to Sandy Berman (4400 Morningside Rd. Edina, MN 55416, 6 12-541-8570, sberman@hennepin.lib.mn.us).

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Freedom of Expression and Human Rights in Nigeria

 Whereas, playwright and journalist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other human rights campaigners have recently been executed by the Nigerian Government, withou t due process, in response to their peaceful activities against the degradation of the farmland of the Ogoni people by the Shell Oil Corporation and their requests for sharing oil profits with local communities; and

whereas, the Nigerian military govern ment has detained Chief Moshood Abiola, the winner of the 1993 presidential elections and former Head of State Olusegun Obassanjo and other human rights activists; and

whereas, the people of Nigeria are denied their rights to peacefully voice their oppo sition to the current military regime; and

whereas, there is a worldwide movement calling for sanctions against the Nigerian military government; Nigeria has been suspended from the Commonwealth of Nations; the U.S. Government and the European Union hav e instituted an arms embargo against Nigeria; and Senator Nancy Kassebaum (R-KS) and Representative Donald Payne (D-NJ) have introduced legislation (S.1419 and H.R. 2697) to ban all new U.S. investment in Nigeria and freeze the assets of top Nigerian offi cials; therefore be it

resolved, that American Library Association supports comprehensive sanctions against the Government of Nigeria, because of that Government's violation of human rights and freedom of expression.

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Recommended Resources

 _Alter native literature: a practical guide for librarians_. By Chris Atton. Gower, 1996. 202p. Making a strong case for the acquisition of materials currently all but ignored by libraries, Chris Atton's book is both important reading and a useful re-source. British and American in scope, it is a thorough (if not exhaustive) treatment of the topic. Zines, independent publishers, and WorldwideWeb resources are all here: what they are, why they're important, where to find them, and how to treat them. The a uthor includes brief bibliographic essays covering subject areas from anarchism to mail art, and addresses such theoretical issues as class bias in libraries and the importance of librarians participating in cultural networking. One section of the book is devoted to information about tools for acquiring alternative literature, from review journals to indexes. Finally, Atton argues against the ghettoization of alternative materials in special collections, and discusses suggestions for improved catalogi ng access (using Sandy Berman's Alternative CIP as case study). Appendices provide addresses for periodicals and organizations mentioned in the text, while bibliographic descriptions are given for books and pamphlets. Though dotted with Scotticisms (e. g., "outwith"), Atton's labor of love should be required reading for librarians on both sides of the Atlantic. Heavily informed by North American sources, it is an important update to Danky and Shore's _Alternative materials in libraries_ (Scarecrow, 198 2). One quibble: the index is a bit slimmer than we'd like. (Old Post Rd., Brookfield, VT 05036, 802-276-3162; $68.95, cloth, 0-566-07665-9).

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Recommended Reading

 _Words of fire: an anthology of African-American feminist thought_. Edited by Beve rly Guy-Sheftall. New Press, 1995. 577p. I expected to have my standard reaction to reading an anthology ("This is an interesting yet uneven mix..."), but Beverly Guy-Sheftall's anthology of African American Feminist thought is strong throughout. In h er introduction to the anthology, Sheftall manages to place the women and their writings in a clear historical context without smoothing over the complexity of their identities and ideas. In the body of the text, authors like Lorraine Hansberry, Sojourne r Truth, Angela Davis, bell hooks, and Audre Lorde, along with such lesser known writers as Gertrude Bustill Mossell, Claudia Jones, Deborah K. King, and Elise Johnson McDougald, write about the range of ideas and issues with which Black women are engage d. Lynching, suffrage, racism within the feminist movement, sexism and heterosexism within the civil rights and Black power movements, and representations of Blacks in popular culture are just some of the topics discussed in the essays. The anthology do es not claim to be a complete record of African American intellectual writing; perhaps because she is conscious of the ellipses in previous works that have claimed to represent the whole of Black or women's discourse, Sheftall is careful to delineate in t he work's introduction what she has and has not included. The result is an anthology that doesn't merely trace the contributions that Black women have made to feminist and African American thought, but rather one that documents a unique and complex Black feminist intellectual tradition from the 19th century to the present. Highly recommended for academic and public libraries. (450 W. 41st St., New York, NY 10036; $20, paper, 1-56584-256-1).
--Karen M. Beavers

_War junkie_. By Joe Sacco. Fantag raphics Books, 1995. 135p. Compiled from Sacco's _Yahoo_ comic book series, these "tales of combat, depression, and rock 'n' roll" seem like illuminated offspring of Louis-Ferdinand Celine. Vertigo-producing, drawn at times as if through a fish-eye le ns, they first recount a European roadie gig from hell and the artist's claustrophobic return to his birthplace. Acting as "where I'm coming from" context, these stories lead to the heart of the book: coverage of the Persian Gulf War (e.g., strips titl ed "Desert Sheep"), an illustrated account about air attacks on Malta (as remembered by Sacco's mother), and an historical look at the bombing of civilians ("When good bombs happen to bad people"). This sweaty anthology is companion to the hard hitting _Palestine_ (MSRRT Newsletter, February 1994), Sacco's personal account about conflict in the Middle East. (7563 Lake City Way NE, Seattle, WA 98155; $14.95, paper, 1-56097-170-3).

_Bomb the suburbs_. By William Upski Wimsatt. Revised 2nd ed. Subway and Elevated Press, 1994. 112p. From scary cities, the upwardly mobile escape into suburbs. Urban panhandling ordinances are rife. Homeless people are harassed, anti-graffiti campaigns applauded. What's wrong with this picture? Growing up in Chica go, William Wimsatt (a.k.a. "Upski") broke the rules by dropping out of the mainstream and into hiphop. Celebrating the do-it-yourself culture of graffiti "bombing", rap music, and break dancing, this book is also Upski's manifesto about white people's " moral debt to Black America." Rough around the edges like a zine and full of passion, it includes interviews with rappers, taggers, and community youth organizers, one of whom talks about how to avoid exploitation. There are essays on "wiggers" (white people in Black culture), with an account of attending a speech by a classmate's father, Louis Farrakhan. There's a guided tour of a vast urban abandoned area, with a profile of a shack-dwelling inhabitant ("Shane, 38, the great American homesteader"). I t's got Upski's mom reading his friends the list of toxic compounds found in spray paint, along with tales of hitchhiking and riding the rails. Unlike _The mole people_, by Jennifer Toth (Chicago Review Press, 1993), another young white writer's fascina ting look at underground homeless communities in Manhattan, _Bomb the suburbs_ seems genuinely hopeful. Written not by a patronizing "expert", but from someone who's living it, this book speaks directly to kids but is essential reading for all aspiring a nti-racists and inner city dwellers. It complements Camilo Jose Vergara's _The new American ghetto_ (Rutgers University press, 1995), an important photographic look at "fortified" cities and resistance to degradation. Today's suburbs are tomorrow's ghet tos, says Upski, adding, "I want to live in an America without ghettos or suburbs." (P.O. Box 377653, Chicago, IL 60637; $7, paper, 0-964-38550-3).

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Recommended Viewing

 _Graffiti verite'_ (Video). Written, produced, and directed by Bob Bryan. Br yan World Productions, 1995. This tightly edited 45-minute documentary on graffiti is a mind expanding experience in _people's_--as opposed to commercial--culture. Guaranteed to break preconceived notions, it lets two dozen Los Angeles artists do all th e talking, showing some of them in action. "Art" is the keyword here: exuberant and intense art. Not about illicit tagging under cover of night or subway vandalism, it focuses greatly on colorful pieces, some even created for gallery shows. "Old schoo ler" Chaz, active in the Seventies, articulates graffiti's place both on the streets and in institutions, and traces the L.A scene's Chicano roots. Younger artists (a multiracial contingent including one woman) critique technical aspects of each other's works and talk about graffiti's place--with rap and break dancing--in hiphop. Above all, free expression is the common bond. Occasionally provocative and sometimes deeply moving, graffiti art deserves wider understanding. To that end, this documentar y is highly recommended for public libraries and art collections. (125 S. Wilton Pl., Los Angeles, CA 90004, 213-856-9256, FAX: 213-856-0855; $21).

_The book of Jabbo: revelations in 6 languages_. By Mondo Jud Hart. Azul Editions, 1995. 155p. Recom mended _viewing_? Yes, this book is _not_ one to be "read" in the normal sense. Rather, made up of intriguing black and white photomontages, it's an artist's book full of visual poetry. Much of its appropriated text is Chinese, Russian, Spanish, and Arabic, while names of African American cultural heroes float amongst images from old medical texts, copulating mouse-headed dogs, fetuses, aircraft, and skulls. What to make of it? You be the judge. Hart's biography notes that he attended the Universi ty of Denver on a track scholarship and now has a day job "constructing parade floats and props for San Francisco's major annual parades." Far out! (7804 Sycamore Dr., Falls Church, VA 22042, 703-573-7866; $19.95, paper, 1-885214-04-9).

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Periodicals Received

 _Slug & Lettuce_, an alternative tabloid begun in 1986 by "a 15 year old punk in Pennsylvania," features reviews of zines and punk music in the fashion of _Maximumrocknroll_. The May/June 1995 issue (#39) also contains an illustra ted report on artist Fly's stay in Grenada (where she helped build a house and taught children to play Exquisite Corpse), a proposal for "Nomadic Festival '95" (with stops in Seattle, Minneapolis, and Dreamtime Village), short essays (e.g., "What punk me ans to me" and "What is a riot grrrl anyway?"), and a column on "biointensive" gardening. (P.O. Box 2067, Peter Stuyvesant Station, New York, NY 10009, $3.30/6 issues).

_ETC: A Review of General Semantics_ is a quarterly journal published by the Intern ational Society for General Semantics. The Fall 1995 issue (v.52 #3) includes "Looking ahead: why the real lesson of Vietnam eludes Robert McNamara," articles on "the Generation X and Boomers meta-phors" and product labeling ("97% fat free: on the art of misinforming") and "Communication in the information age: a critique," as well as book reviews and a short essay on "nouning the verb." (P.O. Box 728, Concord, CA 94522, 510-798-0311, isgs@crl.com; $30; ISSN: 0014-164X).

_Monozine_ is a zine devoted to graphic personal accounts of illness and injury. Easy to relate to on a visceral level, the 20-page initial edition features material on the agonies of salmonella poisoning, colon problems, oral surgery, and a swimming pool accident, while the 36-page s econd issue ("Relapse") recounts bouts with chicken pox, diarrhea, two cases of urethritis (e.g., "Pissing fire: one man's tale"), kidney stone pain (while airborne), pleurisy, and vomiting. The latter issue also includes straightforward questions and answers about the physiological aspects of burping, bruises, goose bumps, intestinal gas, sunburn, sneezing, constipation, and other bodily occurrences. (P.O. Box 598, Reistertown, MD 21136; $2/issue).

_Poverty & Race_ is a newsletter published six t imes a year by the nonprofit Poverty & Race Research Action Council. The 28-page September/October 1995 edition (v.4 #5) contains an article on fighting corporate power (?inorities, the poor & ending corporate rule?, a report on cumulative voting (wher e each voter is allowed as many votes as seats to be filled), and a profile of the Los Angeles Poverty & Race Researcher and Activist Network (PRRAN-LA), as well as a report on the National Independent Politics Summit held last August at the University of Pittsburgh. Also: over two hundred resource listings on affirmative action, racism, hunger, homelessness, housing, community organizing, and related issues. (1711 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 207, Washington, DC 20009, 202-387-9887, FAX: 202-387-0764; $3 0).

_Welfare Rights News_ is the newsletter of the Minneapolis-based Welfare Rights Committee, "a volunteer organization of welfare recipients, low income and working poor fighting for our rights and for economic justice for all." The 14-page Summer 19 95 issue contains a report and commentary on the new Minnesota "Welfare Reform" bill signed into law (which cuts the Work Readiness Program) and the text of the Committee's proposed "Anti-Poverty Bill", as well as a federal legislative update, material on fighting workfare, salaries of top welfare officials, and an essay on discrimination against immigrants. (310 E. 38th St., Minneapolis, MN 55409, 612-822-8020).

_Food Share_ is a quarterly newsletter published by Minnesota FoodShare, a nonprofit progra m of the Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches. The 16-page Summer 1995 issue (v.8 #2) contains foodshelf use statistics, legislative updates ("Welfare reform bill...puts nutrition programs at risk"), and a brief report on a Food Summit sponsored by th e Minnesota Food Forum, while the 12-page Fall 1995 edition includes a welfare quiz, "Statement of Hunger Principles", and calendar of events. Printed on recycled paper. (c/o Foodshelf Committee, 122 W. Franklin Ave., Room 218, Minneapolis, MN 55404-2470 , 612-870-3660).

_Guovssahasat_ ("Northern Lights") is the newsletter of the Sami Association of North America. The 6-page January 1996 issue includes news from Sapmi (e.g., coverage of a proposed special fishing zone for Sea Sami), material on member p rojects (including developing a WorldwideWeb page), and information about a Sami Day program in the Twin Cities. (P.O. Box 18715, Minneapolis, MN 55418, phone: 612-498-8429, email: guovtta@winternet.com).

_International Examiner _("The journal of the N orthwest's Asian American communities") is a nonprofit newspaper published twice monthly. The March 15, 1995 issue (v. 22 #6) contains an article on the affirmative action debate, a report on the mail order bride industry, news about a ruling against 7-E leven stores' English-only policy, and coverage of a union grievance over the observance of the Lunar New Year, as well as arts reviews and event listings. Also: a four-page supplement, "Speaking out: rethinking AIDS in the Asian and Pacific Islander com munities." (622 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104, 206-624-3925, FAX: 206-624-3046; $18).

_ACCESSline_, a monthly newspaper "for midwestern gays, lesbians, bisexuals and friends," is published by the nonprofit ACCESS--A Concerned Community for Educat ion, Safer-sex and Support in northeastern Iowa. The 12-page December 1995 issue (v.9 #12) contains regional and national news briefs, a Shelly Roberts column ("Roberts' rules of the lesbian correct"), and an editorial by NLGTF Policy Institute director J ohn D'Emilio (on gays and the Republican Party), as well as action alerts, resource listings, and event information. (P.O. Box 1682, Waterloo, IA 50704, 319-232-6805; $15).

_Our Stories_ is the newsletter of the nonprofit Gay and Lesbian Historical Soci ety of Northern California. The 4-page Summer/Fall 1995 issue (v.10 #2) contains news about the hiring of a full-time archivist, a report on an oral history project, and a brief profile of GLHS volunteer Alyson Belcher, as well as event information, whil e the 20-page previous issue (Winter 1995) featured an article on African American resources in the archives. (P.O. Box 424280, San Francisco, CA 94142, 415-777-5455; membership $30, $20 student/low income; ISSN: 1053-296X).

_Teen Fag_ is a distinctly above average zine, in content, design, and graphics. The 40-page Spring 1995 issue (#4) focuses on "all the queers that the main stream gay community would like you to forget about," and includes an article about gay Republicans, a report on PLAGAL (Pro -Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians), and an interview with _NAMBLA Bulletin _editor Bill Andriette, as well as profiles of such "bad homos" as Jeffrey Dahmer, Roy Cohn, John Wayne Gacy, J. Edgar Hoover, and Aileen Wuornos. Also: zine and music reviews, an in-depth look at two troubling comics zines (_Boiled Angel_ and _Baby Sue_), and strips by Blair Wilson, Sarah Bell, Tony Arena, and David Kelly. Issue #5 was scheduled to have a medical theme. (Chow Chow Productions, P.O. Box 20204, Seattle, WA 98122 ; $10/4).

The _Body Image Task Force_ newsletter is a quarterly source of information about size discrimination, looksism, media images of women, and related topics. The 12-page Winter/Spring 1995 issue (v.5 #1) features book reviews and an article ab out a successful campaign for accessible theater seating, while the Fall 1995 issue includes a copy of a letter sent to schools in the Santa Cruz area and "Guidelines for identifying size discrimination in educational materials," along with commentary on media coverage of women athletes, a personal account about struggling with an eating disorder, and a reprinted article by Marge Piercy ("My, haven't you lost weight!"). (P.O. Box 934, Santa Cruz, CA 95061-0934, 408-457-4838; membership, $35; senior/limit ed income, $10-34).

_Women in Public Service_, a bulletin "documenting the status of and trends concerning women working in government," is published by the Center for Women in Government. The 6-page Fall 1995 issue (#5) focuses on "hidden violence aga inst women at work," and includes statistics on riskiest jobs, workplace murders, nonfatal workplace assault, and the greater risks faced by women of color, as well as a "step-by-step guide to preventing workplace violence." Union-printed. (SUNY-Albany, Draper Hall 302, Albany, NY 12222, 518-442-3900).

_AWOL_ ("Youth for peace and revolution") is a zine put together by Jenna DeLorey as part of an internship with the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors (CCCO). Issue #1 contains essays on peac e activism and military racism, an insightful paean to zines, and an article on countering Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps programs in schools, as well as a report on an Asian/Latino unity program in Portland, Oregon. Also: interviews with the edi tor of Free to Fight and hardcore band No Fraud, a lesson in "understanding military brochures", and information about a feminist self-portrait project. (CCCO, 665 Sutter St., #514, San Francisco, CA 94102, 1-800-NO-JROTC, cccowr@igc.org).

_On Watch_ i s the newsletter of the National Lawyers Guild Military Law Task Force. The 28-page November 1995 issue (v.16 #2-3) contains significant articles on military sexual harassment cases, Junior ROTC programs in public schools, challenging military recruitmen t on campus, and military policy on homosexuality and HIV, as well as a report on counseling conscientious objectors and coverage of the defeat of legislation which would have begun the process of defunding the Selective Service System. Union-printed on recycled paper. (1168 Union St., Suite 201, San Diego, CA 92101, 619-233-1701, FAX: 619-233-6314; $20; $40 institutional).

_Rigoberta_ is a new newsletter issued by the nonprofit Rigoberta Menchu Tum Founda-tion. The December 1995 initial English-lan guage edition features a report on massacres and kidnap-pings in Guatemala, along with specific information about a campaign to register and educate indigenous voters. (8 W. 40th St., Suite 1610, New York, NY 10018-3902, 212-302-2139, rmtf@igc.apc.org; c ontribution).

_Tell_ is a notable weekly Nigerian news magazine. The 50-page August 14, 1995 issue (#33) reports and comments extensively on the Abacha regime's crackdown "against everybody," with an article about the sentencing of four journalists to life imprisonment, one a _Tell_ assistant editor, as well as letters from readers, most on Abacha and his military junta. Also: coverage of events elsewhere in Africa, a special report on the advertising industry, and a profile of a printing trade execut ive. (Textile Labour House, 10 Acme Rd., P.M.B. 21749, Ikeja, Nigeria; ISSN: 1115-7615).

_Sustainable Minnesota_ is a publication of the nonprofit Minnesotans for an Energy-Efficient

Economy (ME3). The 8-page Summer 1995 edition (v.5 #3) contains a state legislative recap, with material on wind energy systems, ethanol incentives, and biomass energy, as well as coverage of regulatory hearings and investigations, Northern States Power Company actions, and ME3's Green Taxes project. Also: resource l istings and "Twelve principles for smart electric utility restructuring." Union-printed on recycled paper with soy ink. (1916 Second Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55403).

_Midwest Headwaters Journal_ is an Earth First! publication from the upper Great Lake s bioregion. The 6-page Autumn 1995 issue (v.8 #3) contains news of a Madison, Wisconsin, Earth First! confrontation on Lake Mendota with Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbit and information about the then-upcoming Wolf River Earth First! Rendezvous, a n update on a proposed highway expansion in Wisconsin's Dade County, a recommended radical reading list, and contact data for local and regional Earth First! chapters and other grassroots organi-zations. Union-printed on recycled paper. (Editorial: 731 State St., Madison, WI 53703, 608-255-8765, brmanski@students.wisc.edu; subscriptions: 305 N. Sixth St., Madison, WI 53704, 608-241-9426).

_Electrifying Times_ ("Electric car news") offers international coverage of new propulsion and battery technologie s, "electric racing events", and company profiles, three times yearly. The 56-page Fall 1995 issue (v.3 #2) contains reports on the 1995 Department of Energy Clean Air Road Rally and the American Tour de Sol, an article about "the world's first afforda ble electric sports car," material on oil industry efforts "to eliminate federal incentives aimed at promoting alternative fuels," and items about electric buses, vans, hydroplanes, scooters, and mowers. Also: a schedule of "solar & electric transportati on events." (63600 Deschutes Market Rd., Bend, OR 97701, 503-388-1908, FAX: 503-382-0384, email: 102331.2166@compuserve.com; $10, $12 in Canada).

_Score_ calls itself "the only American magazine entirely devoted to visual poetry." The edition seen (#1 3, "first issue of the new series") includes challenging pieces by Dick Higgins, John M. Bennett, and Harry Polkinhorn, as well as an international cast of longtime mail artists--Pascal Lenoir, Ruggero Maggi, Rea Nikonova, Serge Segay, and Marcel Stussi. (Crag Hill, 1015 NW Clifford St., Pullman, WA 99163; $10 individual, $15 institutional).

_pARTS Journal_ is a quarterly publication of the Minneapolis-based nonprofit pARTS Photogra-phic Arts. The 20-page September 1995 issue (v.1 #3) focuses on rece nt portraiture, and includes reproductions of works by Keri Pickett, Dan Dennehy, Stuart Klipper, and Bridget Shields, as well as a bibliographic essay on photo books, local news and reviews, and listings of regional photography exhibitions. (2800 Lyndal e Ave. S., Minne-apolis, MN 55408, 612-870-9074; $10).

_Folk Roots_ is a glossy British magazine covering international music in depth. The 82-page October 1995 issue (#148) contains an article on kronjong ("Indonesia's...urban folk music"), a report on "a 1940s recording expedition to Bali," and an interview with two members of the Eleven Soul Brothers ("kings of mbaqanga"), as well as charts ("e.g., "Stern's African record shop 15") and short pieces covering the likes of the Mills Sisters, a three-w oman group from the Torres Islands. Also: a round-up of Indian classical music, detailed event listings, reviews of recordings and publications, and letters from readers (two on home taping, one from Minneapolis blues harpist Tony Glover). Previous issu es have featured coverage of such divergent performers as Gatemouth Brown, Boukman Eksperyans, and Johnny Cash. (Southern Rag Ltd., P.O. Box 337, London, N4 1TW, England, email: froots@cityscape.co.uk; http://www.cityscape.co.uk/froots/; ISSN: 0951-1326) .

_Tapeworm_ is a zine about home taping. The 59-page initial issue (Spring 1995) covers mostly rock music, and features contributor-written annotated descriptions of eclectic tape compilations (including one by Minnesota's Laura Weber) and an essay by editor Jeff Pike ("Do you like to make tapes?), as well as brief reviews of Web sites, movies, comics, zines, and books. Also: an autobiographical comic strip by Megan Kelso ("My little piece of Kurt"). (c/o Jeff Pike, P.O. Box 19351, Seattle, WA 98109) .

_Twin Cities Jazz Notes_ is the newsletter of the nonprofit Twin Cities Jazz Society. The 12-page October 1995 issue (v.17 #10) contains detailed schedules of club dates, concerts, and jazz programming on radio and television, as well as an article a bout a new musician-owned club (the Artist's Quarter at Rudy's), a profile of 3M Sound Products (a company offering "satellite music channels" for businesses), reviews, and info about the Society's WorldwideWeb page (http://www.mtn.org/TCJS/). (Membershi p: P.O. Box 4487, St. Paul, MN 55104-0487, tcjs@mtn.org; $20, students $10; editorial: 1294 Rose Pl., St. Paul, MN 55113-3230, 612-633-3134, FAX: 612-633-8401).

_8-Track Mind_ is a quarterly zine devoted to the history and collecting of 8-track tapes. The 40-page Fall 1995 issue (#86) contains extensive letters from readers, as well as an account of a dream involving 8-tracks, an article about making your own 8-tracks using blank cartridges, and a resource list of tapes and zines. According to the la tter, editor Russel Forster's film about 8-tracks, "So Wrong They're Right", is available on video for $25. (P.O. Box 90, East Detroit, MI 48021-0090; $8 payable to R. Forster).

_Asterism_ is a review journal dedicated to "science fiction, fantasy and space music." The 12-page Winter 1996 issue (v.1 #2) features reviews of nineteen recordings, most from small independent labels (addresses are given, but no prices), as well as reports on concerts by Kitaro and The Legendary Pink Dots. The scope seems t o be experimental, electronic, and ambient music from the likes of Mike Oldfield, Bill Laswell, and Tangerine Dream co-founder Edgar Froese. (Jeff Berkwits, P.O. Box 6210, Evanston, IL 60204; $6).

_Fed-Up Secretary_ describes itself as being "the 'zin e for secretly spiteful clerical workers." The Summer 1995 initial issue contains "True secs"--a selection of "real life secretarial stories" (with names changed "so the authors don't get fired from their lousy jobs"), tips for "slowing your office to a more enjoyable pace," and an interview with a male secretary, as well as a look at secretaries in the mass media and suggested uses for petty cash. (P.O. Box 0573, Chicago, IL 60690-0573).

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Catalogs Received

 Space and Time World Enterprises ("Cu ltural artifacts beyond the realm") offers audiocassettes of phone pranks (e.g., "Sears Collection Calls & Rat Lady"), bloopers ("Celebrity Swearing"), and allegedly "found" tapes ("New Hampshire Dumpster Love Letter Cassette"), as well as a variety of ex perimental music and "weird songs" on tape, vinyl, and CD. (P.O. Box 4921 Santa Rosa, CA 95402).

Radio Free Maine offers audio and video tapes of talks by the likes of Randall Forsberg, Noam Chomsky, Cornel West, Michael Lerner, and Howard Zinn. (P.O. Box 2705, Augusta, ME 04338, 207-622-6629).

Cleopatra Records is an indie rock label specializing in industrial music (e.g., Skinny Puppy), Goth, and--via its X-Ray Records division--trance and European house music. (8726 S. Sepulveda, Suite D-82, Los Angeles, CA 90045, cleopatra@cyberden.com.

Pluto Press recent titles include _Women of a lesser cost: female labor, foreign exchange and Philippine development_ and Daphne Watson's _Their own worst enemies: women writers of women's fiction_. (Freepost ND 6781, London, N6 5BR, England); in U.S., c/o Westview Press, 5500 Central Ave., Boulder, CO 80301-2847, 303-444-3541, 1-800-456-1995).

Ide House recent titles include Sydney Chambers and Carolynne Myall's _Women & the values of American librarianshi p_, Steve Otto's _War on drugs, war on people_, and Louis Maier's_ In lieu of flowers: in memory of the Jews of Malsch, a village in Southern Germany_. (P.O. Box 160361, Las Colinas, TX 75016, 412-686-5332).

Wildcat Press titles--Patricia Nell Warren's _The front runner_ and its sequel, _Harlan's race_, are gay love stories about a track and field coach and his athletes. The former, widely translated abroad, is due out later this year in a Spanish-language edition (as _El atleta_). (8306 Wilshire Blv d., Beverly Hills, CA 90211, 213-936-3666, FAX: 213-933-0999).

Starhead Comix publishes and distributes works by Ellen Forney, Dennis Eichhorn, Colin Upton, Roberta Gregory, Steve Willis, and others, as well as women's comics series _Diva_ and reprinted editions of the sexually explicit "Tijuana Bible" created from the 1930s to the 1950s. (P.O. Box 30044, Seattle, WA 98103).

Mother Courage Press ("Feminist/humanist books") has published such titles as _And then I met this woman: previously married wo men's journeys into lesbian relationships_ and _Helping the adult survivor of child sexual abuse: for friends, family and lovers_. (1667 Douglas Ave., Racine, WI 53404-2721, 414-634-1047).

University of Sankore Press offers titles by Maulana Karenga, in cluding a new edition of his _Introduction to Black studies_ (with material added on rap music, the Jesse Jackson presidential campaigns, and "feminist discourse") and _The African American holiday of Kwanzaa_. (2560 W. 54th St., Los Angeles, CA 90043, 2 13-299-6124).

Labor Publications titles include_ Death in a toy factory: the story of the worst industrial fire in history_. (25900 Greenfield Rd., Suite 258, Oak Park, MI 48237, 810-967-2924, FAX: 810-967-3023).

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Miscellaneous

 _The Environmentalist's Guide to the Public Library_, a 19-page booklet produced by Libraries for the Future, includes an article on Dewey and LC organization of environmental material, suggestions for advocacy, and profiles of library programs, as well as lists of relat ed organizations and Internet resources. (521 Fifth Ave., Suite 1612, New York, NY 10175-1699, 212-682-7446, lff@phantom.com).

_This is the Spinal Tap Zine_ ("An a-to-zed guide to one of England's loudest bands") is a 76-page publication featuring an e xhaustive dictionary, as well as bibliography, discography, trivia quiz, chronology, and an interview with Peter Ochiogrosso, author of _Inside Spinal Tap_. (Chip Rowe, P.O. Box 11967, Chicago, IL 60611-0967; $3).

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Books Received

 _Early Negro writing, 1760-1837_. Selected and introduced by Dorothy Porter. Black Classic Press, 1995, copyright 1971. Includes source material from mutual aid and fraternal organizations, churches, and educational societies, as well as speeches, letters, and minutes of meetings. (P.O. Box 13414, Baltimore, MD 21203, 410-358-0980, FAX: 410-358-0987; $24.95, paper, 0-933121-59-8).

_Men are from Detroit, women are from Paris: cartoons by women_. Edited by Roz Warren. Crossing Press, 1995. 111p. "Traditional" men, gay men, men and sex, fathers, and "fantasy men" as illuminated by Roz Chast, Lynda Barry, Jennifer Camper, Nina Paley, Lee Kennedy, and others. (P.O. Box 1048, Freedom, CA 95019, 1-800-777-1048, FAX: 408-722-2749; $6.95, paper, 0-89594-748-X).

_A guide to homeschooling for librarians_. By David C. Brostrom. Highsmith, 1995. 85p. Includes lists of homeschooling organizations, periodicals, correspondence schools, and curriculum providers, as well as a bibliography. The author is a former MSRRT member now living in Wisconsin. (P.O. Box 800, Fort Atkinson, WI 53538-0800; $15, paper, 0-917846-46-X).

_Welts: female domination in an American marriage_. By Gloria & Dave Wallace. FemSuprem Books, 1995. "An introduction and step-by-step guide to erotic f emale domination." (Artemis Creations, 3395 Nostrand Ave., Suite 2-J, Brooklyn, NY 11229, 718-648-8215; $12.95, paper, 0-9640963-9-0).

_E pluribus unum_. By Genevieve St. Cyr. Provincial Press, 1995. 420p. A "classical epic poem... that recounts th e deeds of...John Fitzgerald Kennedy." (1784 West 500 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84104, 801-975-9578, FAX: 801-973-4027; $24.95, cloth, 0-9626457-2-9).

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