Liz Laribee, the programs and partnerships librarian at Arlington Public Library, says she thinks in puns. So, when the word “quaranzine” popped into her head a little over a week ago, it gave her an idea. On April 3, the library published the first issue of Quaranzine, a weekly online collection of works by local artists responding to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Creative expression is a really valuable tool I have for working through my own thought processes and anxiety,” says Laribee, who is also a portrait artist. “So, having a tool like that for myself, I thought it might benefit a larger community group.”
Laribee says the library’s first call for submissions received about 65 entries, far more than she was expecting. While each work must address the COVID-19 crisis in some way, the other criteria is fairly broad: The library welcomes paintings, photographs, poems, and even recipes, among other kinds of work.
The first wave of submissions, which was limited to Arlington County employees, included a photograph by the library’s website editor and social media developer, Alex Zealand, of a diorama with rubber rats holding signs that read, “Wash your paws!” and “Keep a social distance.” Another piece by Brittany Ham, titled “A Timeline of My Self-Quarantine Sweets,” featured drawings of goodies like sticky toffee pudding and anadama bread.
Laribee submitted a piece of her own as well. Titled, “Apologies I’ve Made to My Partner This Month vol. 1,” the piece, which was made using sharpie and Photoshop, features a man reading on a couch while a bubble of jumbled text floats above him. A phrase at the bottom of the work reads, “I’m sorry I can’t tell how loud I am on teleconference calls.”
“The unifying theme really is how people are coping and processing this really specific time,” Laribee says. “And we have had a lot of stories of innovation and hopefulness, and then also just a lot of really bare bones honest reflections on people having a difficult time.”
The library is currently accepting submissions for the next issue, which is open to the public. While the program is geared toward those with Arlington Public Library cards, Laribee says there’s room for some flexibility.
New issues will come out on Fridays. The number of pieces included in each collection may vary, and they have considered doing special editions of the zine, like a teenager-only week or a collection of parent-child collaborations, though there are no firm plans yet. Laribee says she and the nine-person “quaranteam” that works on the project with her will continue to collect submissions as long as the region remains on lockdown.
When the spread of the coronavirus slows, and strict social distancing measures are relaxed, Laribee hopes to print and distribute the issues, and store them in the library’s Center for Local History, she says, “as a record of how we responded during this time.”
This post has been updated to reflect that Alex Zealand photographed the diorama of rubber rats.
