Look Back Library

Look Back Library is a nonprofit organization focused on preserving, exhibiting, and making accessible the printed history of skateboarding. Its core collection consists of skateboard magazines and related print materials, which it presents through traveling exhibitions and publicly accessible libraries installed at skate shops, skateparks, community organizations, and other venues. The organization treats skate magazines not only as collectibles but also as records of skateboarding's cultural, artistic, commercial, and social development. The project began in 2014 when founder Kevin Marks worked on improving the skateboard magazine library at Launch, a community skateboarding organization in Fort Collins, Colorado. While organizing that collection, Marks observed that readers and collectors showed substantial interest in older magazines. He also accumulated duplicate issues and sought a practical way to place them where people could read them rather than keeping them solely in private storage. That idea developed into Look Back Library, described by the organization as a skate-magazine preservation society. Look Back Library's work has two connected parts. The first is conservation and cataloging in an informal, community-oriented setting: older magazines and other printed artifacts are gathered, organized, and made available for browsing. The second is outreach. LBL transports selections from its holdings to exhibitions and installs satellite libraries in local skate shops and related spaces. These installations extend access beyond a single archive and connect historical material with active skateboarding communities. The network has included venues across many U.S. states and has also reached Canada and Australia, although the availability and permanence of individual libraries vary. The organization's most prominent documented exhibition was 41 Years of the Ollie, a 2019 tour through the United States. The show used skateboard magazine covers to explore the history of the ollie, one of skateboarding's defining maneuvers, and presented that history through the visual record created by skate publications. The project illustrates LBL's broader method: using familiar printed artifacts to interpret technical innovation, changing visual styles, influential skaters, and the evolution of skateboarding culture. Look Back Library is headquartered in San Diego, California. Marks spends a significant portion of the year traveling to organize exhibitions and install or support libraries. The organization is best understood as a cultural-preservation and literacy initiative rather than a conventional commercial product brand. Its positioning rests on public access, community participation, appreciation of print, and the preservation of skateboarding history for readers, collectors, and future generations.

Look Back Library was founded in 2014 by Kevin Marks as an outgrowth of a personal effort to improve the skateboard magazine library at Launch, a community skateboarding organization in Fort Collins, Colorado. The project began with a practical archival problem: Marks was organizing magazines, noticed strong interest from readers and collectors, and was accumulating duplicate copies. Instead of allowing those duplicates to remain inaccessible in private storage, he developed a model for placing them in public-facing spaces where skateboarders and other visitors could read them. The resulting organization adopted a preservation and outreach mission centered on skateboard magazines and other printed skateboarding materials. Its work combines elements of an archive, a traveling museum, and a community library. Rather than limiting access to a single permanent research room, Look Back Library distributes portions of its collection through exhibitions and installations hosted by skate shops, skateparks, foundations, and other skateboarding venues. This model allows historical publications to circulate within the communities that produced and continue to use skateboarding culture. The organization also frames its work as a literacy initiative. Skate magazines are treated as more than merchandise or memorabilia: they are primary cultural records that document changing equipment, photography, graphic design, writing, professional careers, local scenes, and debates within skateboarding. By encouraging people to read and compare older publications, LBL promotes appreciation of print while preserving material that can be fragile, difficult to find, or otherwise concentrated in private collections. Look Back Library's headquarters are in San Diego, California. Kevin Marks has continued to spend a substantial part of his time traveling, arranging exhibitions, and installing libraries. The organization's documented network has included a large number of venues across the United States, with additional locations in Canada and Australia. These venues have included independent skate shops, indoor skateparks, community organizations, skateboarding foundations, and specialist cultural institutions. Some installations are available only by appointment, and the list of participating venues should therefore be understood as a network of placements rather than a conventional chain of permanently operated branches. In 2019, LBL created and toured 41 Years of the Ollie, an exhibition built around skateboard magazine covers. The show used the printed record of the ollie to explore the maneuver's history and its importance to skateboarding. The exhibition demonstrated how the organization turns archival material into a traveling interpretive experience, linking magazine imagery with the technical and cultural development of skateboarding. Look Back Library remains a specialized nonprofit preservation project rather than a mass-market company. Its significance lies in making an important body of skateboarding history available in the places where skateboarding communities gather. The organization’s public-facing approach also gives duplicate and older printed materials a continuing use, allowing them to function as educational resources as well as historical objects.

• 2019

  41 Years of the Ollie exhibition tours the United States

  [1]Look Back Libraryen.wikipedia.org

  Look Back Library toured an exhibition of skateboard magazine covers that explored the history of the ollie, a central maneuver in skateboarding.

• 2014

  Look Back Library is founded

  [1]Look Back Libraryen.wikipedia.org

  Kevin Marks established Look Back Library after working to improve the skateboard magazine library at Launch in Fort Collins, Colorado, and developing a plan to make duplicate magazines publicly accessible.

A community-based preservation and literacy organization that keeps the printed history of skateboarding accessible through archives, traveling exhibitions, and libraries hosted by skateboarding venues.

• Archival collection · 2014

  Skateboard magazine archive

  The organization's central collection consists of skateboard magazines and related printed materials. These publications preserve visual, editorial, and cultural records of skateboarding across different periods. LBL makes selected materials available through public libraries and exhibitions, emphasizing reading and historical appreciation rather than private collecting alone.

• Public access library installations · 2014

  Community skate-magazine libraries

  Look Back Library installs collections of skate magazines at participating skate shops, skateparks, foundations, and other venues. These satellite libraries bring historical print material into local skateboarding spaces. Availability differs by location, and some libraries can be visited only by appointment.

• Traveling exhibition · 2019

  41 Years of the Ollie

  This exhibition used skateboard magazine covers to trace the history and cultural significance of the ollie. Its 2019 U.S. tour presented skateboarding history through printed imagery and demonstrated LBL's approach to turning archival material into an accessible public exhibition.

• 201941 Years of the Ollie

  United States

  Look Back Library traveled around the United States with a magazine-cover exhibition examining the development and history of the ollie.

  Outcome. The tour expanded LBL's preservation mission into a traveling public exhibition and used a single foundational skateboarding maneuver to interpret changes in skate media and culture.

  Source

• 2019

  Look Back Library tours the United States with 41 Years of the Ollie[1]Look Back Libraryen.wikipedia.org

  Campaign · Other

  Look Back Library presented a traveling exhibition examining the history of the ollie through skateboard magazine covers and toured the show around the United States.

1. 1Look Back Libraryen.wikipedia.org