A celebration of Somerville’s small presses will be held Monday, Feb. 19, at 8 p.m. at Club Passim, 7 Palmer St. in Harvard Square.

Anyone familiar with literary history knows the importance of the small press movement. Poets from Whitman to Frost have cut their teeth in the little magazines, and small presses that have traditionally published emerging poets and writers. The small or alternative press can be a means or an end in itself to help poets and writers outside the ivory walls of the academy get published and be heard.

The Boston area has always been a hub of small presses. From the bigger (small) ones such as David Godine Inc. and Zephyr Press, to three thriving publishers in Somerville — Ibbetson Street, Cervena Barva, and sunny outside — there are always alternatives to the Houghton Mifflin and Random Houses of the world.

The publishers of each press — Doug Holder, Ibbetson Street; Gloria Mindock, Cervena Barva Press; and David McNamara, sunny outside — will be on hand to answer questions about their presses and how to navigate the treacherous shoals of the literary publishing milieu. There will also be selected readers from each press, as well as a book table with titles from the publishers.

Admission is $10 at the door.

The Boston area has always been a hub of small presses. From the bigger (small) ones such as David Godine Inc. and Zephyr Press, to three thriving publishers in Somerville — Ibbetson Street, Cervena Barva, and sunny outside — there are always alternatives to the Houghton Mifflin and Random Houses of the world.

The publishers of each press — Doug Holder, Ibbetson Street; Gloria Mindock, Cervena Barva Press; and David McNamara, sunny outside — will be on hand to answer questions about their presses and how to navigate the treacherous shoals of the literary publishing milieu. There will also be selected readers from each press, as well as a book table with titles from the publishers.

It's hard to believe that thousands of musicians consider playing in a room no larger than 30' x 40' that intimately seats 125 in a basement in Harvard Square as "making it." But they do, because this brick-floored subterranean locale is Club Passim, one of the nation's legendary cultural icons and epicenter of great folk and acoustic music. A place where musicians like Joan Baez, Tom Rush, Jackie Washington, Peter Wolf, Taj Mahal, Patty Larkin, Goeff & Maria Muldaur, Shawn Colvin, and Suzanne Vega cut their musical teeth before playing larger venues.

For four decades, Club Passim has been known as a premier national venue presenting new and established traditional, folk, and acoustic musical performers. In all its incarnations, from the original Club 47 (1958-1968) to Passim (1969-1994) and finally as its present Club Passim, the club has been a special place for both artist and audience member. Probably more than any other single site, Club 47 can claim to have produced a generation of performers, record producers, festival organizers, and managers who remain a great influence on today\'92s music industry. Club 47 may have been the most influential club of its kind during the 1960s folk boom, even more so than clubs in New York and Berkeley. The venue's role in America's musical and cultural history is still being assessed in books, recordings, television documentaries, articles, and autobiographies.

Club Passim first opened as a jazz venue in 1958 under the name of Club 47. The first few months were rocky as the club was shut down by the Cambridge police. The local blue laws at the time prohibited more than three stringed instruments in a place that served food and beverages. So they got a non-profit educational charter and reopened as a private club, making people members at the door.

It wasn't long before it earned a reputation for good music, coffee, and company. And it was here that a friend of then unknown 17-year-old Joan Baez rented the club out just to get her on stage. Baez quickly built a worshipful following and became a regular feature. Here, she introduced Bob Dylan who played between acts.

The Club was shut down by Cambridge police once again, but the performers rallied and held their own hootenannies to keep the music going. Supporters soon realized that they had built a strong community around the club-a strong, close-knit community that remains to this day. The Club Today-40 More Years When rock-and-roll electrified the music and became "the sound," its influence lessened folk's popularity and broadened the folk spectrum simultaneously. But when the '60s came to a close, so did the era of Club 47, which was reborn into Passim and run by Bob and Rae Anne Donlin, who kept its flavor true to its roots. Best of all, Club Passim remains a small venue, where the audience is close enough to feel reverberation of music, see the sweat of the brow, and be a part of the art. Club Passim remains that community that began 40 years ago. It remains a non-profit organization that relies on members, donors, and volunteers for support.

The key to Club Passim's continued success is its audiences, who support new musicians, take risks, and lend an educated ear. But it's more than the music that brings them back. A notation in the club's Memory Book, written by a fan whose association with the club spans its history, sums up feelings of others who've passed through the room: "...The beauty of this place is that in 30 years, those of you who pass through this sacred room will have equally wonderful memories of performers whose careers were launched here. I hope your memories, felt years from now, will inspire the feelings of kinship with special musical experiences that mine do for me. Come here often. The specialness of this room will grow on you."