Violet Fox 🦊

@violetbfox

The Frank Grimes of librarianship. She/her.

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Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· 4d

Brand new zine! Hot off the press! "Orange Pterodactyls : A Case Study of Colored Letters and Gendered Numbers" is a 24-page zine all about synesthesia. I share my spouse's experience with associating letters with colors and with letters & numbers having a gender. #zines

The cover of a new zine titled "Orange Pterodactyls : A Case Study of Colored Letters and Gendered Numbers". The cover has a photo of a plastic toy pterodactyl.

Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· 8d

Adoptee friends & others impacted by adoption: I'm a librarian planning a display for November (National Adoption Month). These are just some of the books that'll be on display—I'd love your suggestions!

A stack of 12 library books about adoption with spine titles shown. The titles are:
* Broken Links, Enduring Ties
* Somebody's Children
* Culture Keeping
* Like Our Very Own: Adoption and the Changing Culture of Motherhood 1851-1950
* Following the Tambourine Man: a Birthmother's Memoir
* Giving Away Simone
* The Violence of Love: Race, Family, and Adoption in the United States
* Choosing Family
* Gay Fathers, Their Children, and the Making of Kinship
* BirthMarks: Transracial Adoption in Contemporary America
* Kinship by Design: A History of Adoption in the Modern United States
* A Living Remedy

Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· 13d

Antiquated Future is also a friend to libraries & archives! If you're looking to order zines for your library, they're a great option. 📚

A simple bumper sticker that reads "support your local archivist".

Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· 13d

Antiquated Future also sells some pretty incredible stickers and postcards. #zines

Lucy from Peanuts sits at a booth with a sign that reads "Zines 5 cents, the zinesters is in".

A sticker that reads "pickleball is a cult".

A friendly green dinosaur sticker. It's reading a zine and the text reads "Read more zines!".

Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· 13d

I love, love, love Portland-based zine distro Antiquated Future, and they're asking for help during a tough year. Buy some amazing #zines and help support the zine community! antiquatedfuture.com (Original instagram post: www.instagram.com/p/DbYi0mGlN6z/)

flyer from Antiquated Future that says "The distro could really use your support right now. There are lots of ways to support the distro. Buy rad stuff and music, spread the word, intern for school, volunteer.".

A flyer with ways to help. Text reads:

Support Antiquated Future
* Buy from website, Etsy, Bandcamp
* Buy AF goods at Grovers Curiosity
Shop in Portland, Oregon
* Submit to our in-house zines
Share our posts
* Show off your AF merch in a story
* Tag your fave bands from the label
* Volunteer for events in Portland
* Intern for the zine distro or
for the record label

Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· 16d

Thanks all for the suggestions! For now, it's home to an impromptu meeting of Dinosaur Council.

A circle of plastic dinosaur toys inside the hidden compartment of the coffee table.

Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· 16d

I bought this coffee table from my neighbors who are moving. It has a secret compartment. What am I putting in here??

A wooden coffee table in front of a small loveseat in a living room.

The top has been lifted off the coffee table to reveal an interior wooden box that is 28 inches long, 13 inches wide, and 5 inches deep.

Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· 16d

Spending my Sunday stuffing the ballot for Pidgeley. 📚

Photo of a very cute, very round, hand-sewn pigeon.

Text reads:
Contestant 138
Pidgeley
Made by Isak Piccillo
Felted pigeon with a round, plump body in deep blue, featuring green and lavender feather details across the chest and gray wings. They have oversized button eyes and a small felt beak.

Letter:
Hi! My name is Pidgeley (spelled similarly to Berkeley) and I am delighted to apply to the position of Berkeley Public Library Mascot. I come from a proud line of literary and media-savvy pigeons, including the Pigeon Who Doesn't Drive the Bus, and the movie moguls of Disney film, "Bolt." As the world's roundest pigeon, I would be honored to represent you.

Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· 27d

Calling over my coworker who's new to cataloging to show him what's called in the biz "a big oof." 😖📚

Screenshot of a MARC record of a personal name authority record. The 670 field shows that the cataloger viewed the author's website in 2014 and added in brackets "image of male," which means they saw an image of the author and decided to categorize them as male based on their photo.

Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· 27d

The extremely hot temps and orange cast to the light are really lending credence to my "I'm in hell" theory.

A hazy sky with the sun looking orange-y framed by power lines and the tops of brick buildings.

Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· Jul 10

THE BIG DUCK!!!!

Violet smiles widely while standing in front of a 20-foot tall building that looks like a white duck.

Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· Jul 10

Sometimes I feel like Western Massachusetts is my own personal hell.

A bumper sticker on a Subaru reading "Alexa change the president".

Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· Jul 9

New call for proposals for zines to be published in a special issue of the Journal of Library Outreach and Engagement, aiming to reimagine scholarly publishing through the format of #zines. 📚 See the full call for proposals at www.facebook.com/TheRealJLOE & forms.cloud.microsoft/r/tvBkuugFpJ

A flyer for the Journal of Library Outreach and Engagement (JLOE) special issue. Text bubbles say "give us your zines!" and "reimagining scholarly publishing".

The flyer continues "We welcome scholarly and featured zine submissions that present original research, case studies, or comparable material that advance library outreach and engagement discussions. Check out the web form to learn more about this special issue." The microsoft cloud forms url is linked in this Bluesky post.

Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· Jul 6

If you need a postcard from the most northerly post office in the lower 48 states, just drop your address in my DMs! 🐌

A very small building with one small window and a sign reading "U.S. Post Office, Angle Inlet, Minnesota 56711. Most northerly post office in the contiguous U.S.".

Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· Jul 5

Made it to the Northwest Angle! Minnesota achievement unlocked!

Violet and her spouse smile broadly at the sign that says "Welcome to the United States. You are entering the Northwest Angle, Minnesota".

A map of Minnesota showing a blue dot at the very tip top of the state.

Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· Jul 4

Observing July 4th by leaving the U.S. We're currently trying our first ketchup chips in Fort Frances 🇨🇦. I'm skeptical.

Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· Jul 3

You're not wrong! Last year I went to Cryptid Mountain Miniature Golf in Morgantown WV, 13 holes and each features its own cryptid.

A minigolf decorated with a red-eyed Mothman above the hole, which is roped off with a TNT barrel.

Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· Jul 2

Being required to give my address as a presenter at Core Forum but they don't tell me why they need my address.

A Google form asking for street address, city, state, and postal code. I've filled out the required forms by saying "please explain why you need my postal address, it's weird.".

Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· Jul 1

I just made a donation for $550 (!) to the Prairieland defendants! Thanks to everyone who has bought a copy of my "Zines Are Back!" zine at #alaac2026 #alaac26. I'm still taking orders at violetbfox.info/zines-are-ba... if you'd like to pick up a copy for just $5.

screenshot for a $550 donation to the Prairieland defendants legal fees. A note from Violet says "Librarians across the U.S. are thinking of you and looking forward to the overturn of your unjust convictions.".

Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· Jun 29

One of your zines was right by the Zine Pavilion cube door. I heard multiple people laugh out loud at the title!

Violet takes a selfie in a purple face mask, in front of a dozen zines on display.

Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· Jun 28

Thanks to everyone at #alaac2026 #alaac26 who is wearing a mask! I think it's a good way to honor @fobettarh.bsky.social's memory to try to keep us all safe and healthy.

Violet, a middle aged woman with glasses, wears a purple face mask.

Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· Jun 28

Together we've raised over $250 for the Prairieland defendants through the sale of "Zines Are Back! : The Perennial Reemergence of the Zine Scene." Wow!!! Thank you to all for your support!! If you're at #alaac2026 #alaac26, stop by the #ZinePavilion (booth 2448) to pick up a copy for $5.

table with a zine. The zine is titled "Zines Are Back!" and the sign says $5 donation for each zine.

Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· Jun 27

How would it be possible for library schools to train for all these things? (This list is from the original Inside Higher Ed article.)

A long sentence of text reading "Skills cited as in especially short supply include teaching experience, STEM expertise, social science expertise, art curation, spatial studies, organizational development, computer science, all manner of disciplinary fields, “area studies” of all types, scholarly communications, data visualization, research-data services, data management, information technology and systems work, geographic information systems, digital scholarship, data science, “data-intensive” fields, assessment, computational methods, fundraising, communications, publicity and marketing, and “information policy.”".

Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· Jun 25

"Remember zines?" 💀 I'm selling these 28-page full-color zines for $5 (shipping included, even international). All money raised will be donated to the Prairieland defendants. If you're at #alaac2026, pick up a copy at the #ZinePavilion! If not, fill out the order form & I'll mail 'em after ALA.

A page from the zine, showing expects and headlines from news articles from 2008 and 2009 showing the cliché "zines aren't totally dead" framing we recognize from today's headlines.

Another page showing more articles from 2009 and 2011.

Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· Jun 25

📢 New zine announcement: “Zines Are Back! : The Perennial Reemergence of the Zine Scene” is a collection of news headlines featuring all the cliché “zines aren’t dead” stories that you’ve grown accustomed to (or resentful of). violetbfox.info/zines-are-ba... #zines

Cover of a zine titled "Zines Are Back"! The cover is in a mock newspaper format with an image of a zine fest.

Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· Jun 22

today's crying jag caused by thinking too deeply for 7 seconds whoops

bicycle fall meme, wherein I show that "thinking about my career in libraries" is like placing a pipe in the spokes of a bike, leading to self-injury.

Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· Jun 22

I hope to see many of you attending #alaac2026 in Chicago at the celebration of life for Fobazi Ettarh on Saturday. Fobazi was a guide star for the LIS profession; I'm glad we'll have the chance to come together to honor her life & legacy. 📚 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/celebratin...

Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· Jun 18

Doing a presentation with a bunch of catalogers; guess at a glance which 4 slides are mine. It's like these people are allergic to fun.

A series of 30 slides in overview. 26 slides are very boring and white, while 4 have bright colors and fun emoji and pictures of cats. The text is too small to read but my slides have engaging and easily understandable text.

Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· Jun 17

Here's a squirrel I saw on campus looking pleased as punch.

A squirrel sits under a tree eating half a bagel.

Violet Fox 🦊@violetbfox· Jun 15

This squirrel is wondering if I'm going to finish my peanut butter crackers. Yes, I am, sorry bud. 🐿