Fi Johnston
banner
fijohnston.bsky.social
Fi Johnston
@fijohnston.bsky.social
Library Person, Maker, creator of Tiny Zine Swap Shop resources @ www.TinyZineSwapShop.com. Primarily books + bikes (+ sewing but that ruins the alliteration) 📚 🚲 🪡 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🍉
Great news, great book!
And the 2025 Carnegie Medal for Writing goes to Glasgow Boys! Congratulations to @margaretmcdonald.bsky.social and @faberchildrens.bsky.social @faberbooks.bsky.social! #Carnegies2025
June 20, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Egan is ALWAYS the vibes for me 💛💙❤️🇨🇴
Before the podium comes honourable mentions.

This year, the Vibes Classification had to show appreciation to Egan Bernal - for coming back from such a horrific crash and showing signs of his former self when attacking - and to Romain Bardet for his final Giro participation.
June 3, 2025 at 5:42 PM
OF COURSE I didn’t get any photos because I was chaos incarnate BUT it was an absolute pleasure to introduce more library professionals to Tiny Zines and the power inherent in a single sheet of paper #CILIPS25
June 3, 2025 at 5:35 PM
I would like to point out that my allocated @scottishbooktrust.bsky.social Storydeck card is ALSO cutie animals, so there is a clear theme to my @cilipscotland.bsky.social conference this year 🥰
June 2, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Shout out to all the cutie baby animals I have been privileged to witness on this train ride to Dundee for #CILIPS25 🙌
June 2, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Pride Month’s here and we’re ALREADY breaking my heart with this perfect WW1 romance 😢
Our first #PrideReads pick is The Boy I Love by @whusseyauthor.bsky.social — a haunting WWI romance capturing the brutality of war and the forbidden love between soldiers. @ciliplgbtq.bsky.social @cilip.bsky.social 🏳️‍🌈📚
June 2, 2025 at 7:33 AM
One hundred percent would read this zine. I’ve heard Steven is the WORST.
May 26, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Thinking about what games are small to store, easy to learn, and quick to play beyond the usual suspects for school libraries - offering a different way of escaping into a narrative for a little time. Great list to investigate!
Small, portable card games: what are some good ones?

Looking for: easy to teach, good for travel, interesting implementations, clever use of basic components, things to learn from as a designer

✂️🎲🎲✂️
May 19, 2025 at 7:15 AM
Every single time I do a Tiny Zine workshop with young people (or adults) I get multiple versions of ‘I’m not creative’ ‘I can’t draw’ ‘I don’t have any good ideas’. And showing them that their personal creative expression has worth is my favourite thing in the world.
It's a fundamentally conservative idea that art is good when it's detailed, realistic, and predictable. This impulse also promotes neoclassical architecture, three-point-thesis writing, and pristine audio production. It's a boring blight on creativity and expression.
May 12, 2025 at 6:06 AM
Reposted by Fi Johnston
On Tuesday 27 May 1-2pm, I'm presenting a webinar on behalf of @ciliplgbtq.bsky.social, "How to be a good ally to trans*, non-binary and gender-conforming people"

I've spoken about this before but allies are more vital than ever now...

Register and share please!

www.cilip.org.uk/events/Event...
May 2, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Reposted by Fi Johnston
The world feels so bleak I almost didn’t post this… but fear and misery is what they want, so screw them!

Out today! A YEAR OF PRIDE & JOY - 52 inspirational LGBTQ+ folk, from all walks of life, talking about JOY!

Art by Ruth Burrows, curated by me.

www.waterstones.com/book/a-year-...
A Year of Pride and Joy by Simon James Green, Ruth Burrows | Waterstones
Buy A Year of Pride and Joy by Simon James Green, Ruth Burrows from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.
www.waterstones.com
April 24, 2025 at 7:16 AM
Reposted by Fi Johnston
Excellent news for the day is book #2 is now officially in the works. Excited to working with @facetpublishing.bsky.social again to write what in my head is "Beth's big gay book of Libraries" (definitely not the final title).

#ActualAuthor #QueerLibraries
April 22, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Hell of the North Weekend is the best weekend, the cobble love is strong.
No Paris-Roubaix without a geology story!

Marjolein Naudé explains in this clip how the Hell of the North froze over and made the muddy, dusty mess we all love so much!

And read more in our blog: www.geo-sports.org/2024/geology...

youtu.be/R00JSTLw-f0?...
Geology of Paris-Roubaix - When did the Hell of the North break loose?
YouTube video by Geo-Sports - The Geology of Sports Events
youtu.be
April 13, 2025 at 8:27 AM
A year and a half ago I visited @stninianslib.bsky.social to chat Tiny Zines - today I visited and saw the HUGE AND AMAZING Tiny Zine Library they are creating and constantly expanding. I may have almost cried at how good they were.
Well done to the Ms H's S1 class today making their #Zines - lots of focus and lots of great ideas. By the end of this project we will have over 300 new stories in the library that other pupils can borrow and learn from. #zinepower
April 8, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Reposted by Fi Johnston
if you’re an artist who ever thought “what’s the point? The world is Hell and I should do something that matters instead”

even in an ICE detention center people will treat art as sacred, seek it out, and find joy and comfort in it. You aren’t making art, you’re making hope.
April 5, 2025 at 4:33 PM
On this Trans Day of Visibility, I stand with all my trans and nb homies, and Godzilla.
Godzilla don't take no mess.
March 31, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Reposted by Fi Johnston
#MiniatureMonday "This little miniature accordion-book adorned with a gold frame accented with pearls highlights the history of how pearls became the hallmark of the American woman. Vintage advertising photos of women wearing all lengths of pearls highlights the text..."
March 31, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Reposted by Fi Johnston
🎉 I've curated a list of all the resources I shared during our recent #TLSkyChat + a couple of other goodies I forgot to share during our conversation! I hope you find it useful AND I hope you'll join us for a future chat! #TLSky #Librarians #Kidlit #EduSky
#TLSkyChat Resource Roundup: Book Talks that Hook
I've shared before that back in January, Heather Turner and I began moderating educator chats for Teacher Librarians (and those who love them!) over on Bluesky. It's been so much fun and it reminds me...
www.librarygirl.net
March 18, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Reposted by Fi Johnston
Not all feminisms are created equal. Our feminism is always antifascist & intersectional.

Over the coming months we’re thrilled to be hosting authors who are boldly exploring new territories in feminist struggle - its pitfalls & possibilities

@theskinnymag.bsky.social @rs21edinburgh.bsky.social
🧵
February 28, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Reposted by Fi Johnston
You can read the full speech at the link below, and in the collection Dancing at the Edge of the World (Grove Press, 1989).

serendipstudio.org/sci_cult/leg...
February 24, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Creating a culture of kindness and connection to community through a cart - alliterative and actual perfection
"The simplest way to begin to culture of kindness and making a difference is through a kids kindness cart program." Here's how: schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Arti...
February 20, 2025 at 8:14 AM
The perfect addition to your inspiring Tiny Zine collection
I made a one-page version of the READ LIKE AN ARTIST zine you can print out and share with your book club, classroom, etc

Download here: austinkleon.substack.com/p/how-to-rea...
February 13, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Reposted by Fi Johnston
Librarians aren't going to save us. Librarians aren't superheroes.

They're just people trying to keep largely underfunded and overwhelmed public services going.

Praise is nice; realistic expectations are better; material support is best.
February 3, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Dorothy > Dewey IDST INDST
Dorothy B. Porter changed libraries 💜

The Dewey Decimal System used to only have two classifications for Black people: 325 (colonization) & 326 (slavery). Each book by a Black person was put into one of these classifications. A book of poetry? Classified as colonization.

Enter Dorothy B. Porter 🧵
February 4, 2025 at 8:44 AM
These look amazing, what a great tool for sparking conversations and connections for students with books AND their librarian.
Every secondary school in Scotland can now get an edition of Story Deck, our new card game tool for starting conversations about books.

We travelled to Forfar Academy to find out how Story Deck has helped to spark a love of reading in pupils there.

www.readingschools.scot/story-deck
January 30, 2025 at 7:12 PM