Utne Reader's library is abuzz with a steady flow of 1,500 magazines, newsletters, journals, weeklies, zines, and other lively dispatches from the cultural front that are rarely found at big-box bookstores, newsstands, or even online. So we share the highlights (and occasional lowlights) of what's landing in our library each week in 'From the Stacks.' Check in every Friday for the latest edition.

Welcome to a special edition of From the Stacks, featuring highlights from the Portland Zine Symposium. The seventh annual symposium (August 11-12, 2007) lured zinesters, artists, DIY devotees, and curious hipsters to the Portland State University campus for two days of workshops, table-browsing, and (in my case) copious consumption of free vegan donuts. A few zine-community bigwigs were on hand, like folks from the incomparable Bitch, which recently relocated to Portland from the Bay Area, and representatives of the Independent Publishing Resource Center, which provides workspace, materials, camps, and workshops for beginning and experienced zinemakers.? A few favorites from the symposium -- many of which I'd never seen before -- are featured below.????

After a four-year hiatus, the much-loved Brainscan is back with two issues cranked out already this year! The zine's author, Alex Wrekk, pulled together the newest issue (#22) in a hurry so that it'd be ready for the symposium. It's all about her new IUD (intrauterine device), or 'practical body modification,' as she puts it. Wrekk writes candidly about her personal experience, beginning with her first few trips to the exam table, where she 'ponders whose job in a drug company it is to decide to get stirrup cozies with ads for things like Femstat on them.' Then she delves into a frank discussion of what sex, orgasms, and menstruation are like 10 months later. Though she's a fan of her IUD now ('an amazing investment!'), Wrekk doesn't gloss over her initial anxieties, post-insertion pain, or other assorted oddities. Along the way, she unwittingly addressed pretty much every question or concern I've ever had on this topic. -- Danielle Maestretti

In the 14th installment of Gurl Scout, Bethany Young recounts her life story through tales of her many (and mostly bad) roommates. Young spent most of her adult life traveling between Arkansas, Alaska, Costa Rica, and Utah, among other locales. Currently settled in Salt Lake City, Young portrays herself as an impetuous and fastidious person who picks up roommate after roommate, despite longing to live on her own. After moments of frustration and clarity dispersed throughout the Americas, the zine ends with Young finally listening to her gut and renting a studio of her own. -- Eric Kelsey