San Leandro, CA – Skate Industry News: Look Back Library Is Preserving The Print

Look Back Library (LBL) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the history of skateboard magazines, and other printed skateboard materials, through traveling exhibits and the building of publicly accessible skateboard magazine libraries. As a “Skate Mag Preservation Society” the Look Back Library aims to promote literacy and the appreciation of printed skateboard materials, particularly magazines. The LBL engages in community outreach through exhibits of classic skate magazines; as well as, installing skate magazine libraries at local Skate shops and other venues.

Founded by Kevin Marks in 2014, the Look Back Library originated from a pet project of Marks’ to improve the skate magazine library at Launch, a community skate organization located in Fort Collins, Colorado. While improving the library at Launch, he noticed considerable interest from both readers and collectors. Marks conceived of the Look Back Library as a way to place the magazine duplicates he was accumulating into a space where the public could read them. The Look Back HQ is located in San Diego, CA, with Marks spending a good portion of the year traveling and installing libraries.

In 2019, Look Back Library travelled around the United States, touring a show titled 41 Years of the Ollie – a magazine cover exhibit exploring the history of the ollie. They now have installments in over 130 locations and are building a Master Library built with a copy of every magazine, skate video, sticker or print that might have been in existence, but they will need your help.

Check them out @lookbacklibrary on insta and see if you can help preserve the history of skateboarding in print! 

Lookbacklibrary.com states – ‘THROUGH YOUR MAGAZINE DONATIONS, IT’S OUR INTENTION TO WORK DILIGENTLY TO FILL HOLES IN THE COLLECTIONS OF OUR COLLECTIVE MEMBERS & TO SEEK NEW LOCATIONS TO HOUSE FUTURE LIBRARIES. ARE YOU READY TO DONATE YOUR MAGAZINES?’