Welcome to Portsmouth Public Library’s celebratory Portsmouth 400 Zine! As the curtain fell on 2023, we found ourselves reflecting on the year-long historical exploration, celebration, and commemoration of Portsmouth’s anniversary. The library staff participated or collaborated, directly and peripherally, in many of the 400th Committee-planned parades, picnics, feasts and festivals, lectures and performances. The city was abuzz with activity celebrating a whirlwind of history and community that has left an indelible mark on our collective memory. However, amidst the revelry it is important to remember that 400 years is but a blink in the history of this beautiful place we now call Portsmouth.

This collection of anecdotes, stories and pictures was drawn together by library staff as a way to digest our city’s vast history, as well as the celebratory events of the past year. Of course, this zine is not an exhaustive history as it would be impossible to cover so much ground in our humble publication. We have done our best to touch upon Portsmouth’s complicated and colorful past, from triumphs to tragedy. We hope this zine will make you think about all the elements that led to creating the rich community the Portsmouth Public Library serves today. Please do investigate local history in context, preserve and share our collective stories, work to know more about the place we call home, and responsibly create history for future generations to explore!

The celebration of Portsmouth’s 400th anniversary is technically a representation of its 1623 colonization through 2023. It is imperative to acknowledge and honor what came before. Indigenous peoples called this place home for millennia before Europeans arrived. Indigenous history is undeniably inextricably intertwined with this land’s history. As a community, we all must strive to embrace the diversity of voices and perspectives that make Portsmouth truly Portsmouth.

In the creation of this zine, we strove to embrace this diversity. We hope it serves as a humble reminder that the story of this city is certainly not confined by 400 years, or any arbitrary timeline chosen for celebration. We are part of an ongoing saga, including many races, ethnicities and colors, small and large events — a continuous narrative that unfolds with each passing day. It’s a long story that does belong to all of us, a collective tapestry that weaves together, thread by thread, ensuring that no voice is silenced, no contribution is too small, and nothing is forgotten.

All links in the online zine are clickable, but please visit our Resources & Additional Reading page for more information.

We are all bound together by our mortality, yet death is a topic rarely discussed in pleasant company. By embracing open and honest discussion around death, we hope you will be able to use this zine as a tool to open the door to factual and compassionate discussion around the topics of death and dying, and also find comfort in knowing just a little bit more about “the great unknown."

Pick up a print copy in the library, or read online!

All links in the online zine are clickable, but please also see our Resources and References page for more information.

Libraries, like all public institutions, have a history of exclusion, segregation, and discrimination. This includes our own beloved PPL. As the staff of the library, we are raising our voices and saying it is time to change.

In June, we launched a staff working group that we’re calling TIDE: The Taskforce for Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity. Our weekly meetings have encouraged us to speak candidly about our own experiences, to educate ourselves about the experiences of others, and to look critically at our library. What can we do to better serve the human beings in our community? How can we uncover and combat racism in our collections, our building, and our profession?

Zines have long been used to easily share information, encourage personal expression, and promote community. In this tradition, we created a zine that serves as both an invitation and a challenge to ourselves and our patrons - a starting point for critical reflection that will hopefully inspire conversation, education, and action. Our zine includes reflective prompts as well as resource lists to help us integrate anti-racist work into our daily lives. We have personally engaged with many of the resources we list. These are the books, films, and podcasts that have inspired us to examine our preconceived notions of race and racism. We acknowledge that this zine is curated by a predominantly white staff and encourage you to check out additional resources created by BIPOC folks (such as those listed in this zine and our #ReadWoke lists which are findable on our website).

It’s taken a long time for us to get here and we know we’ve only just begun. If you want to come along with us on this journey, you’re in the right place! Spend some time with the prompts, sign up for our Standing Up To Racism course, and, as always, keep reading!