otw_news | Open Doors Celebration Transcript

Nancy D.

“In our Star Trek Collection we have a piece of rice with the Enterprise painted on it. I can’t imagine doing that, but it’s great. Also we just received a collection of slash zines—Star Trek mostly—all written by one woman. Her daughter never realized she had written them until after she had died. And they are annotated with her comments on other stories.”

Pete B

“This year has been wonderful with a constant flow of undergrads and grad students coming to see “OTW” collections. Fanzines and fan fic are HOT! I’ve had 3 classes this year structured completely around fan collections, with more to come.”

Jeremy B.

“Fans, some of you may not think so, but what you create, it’s part of our shared cultural history. It has value, it has merit, it has future significance. The fanworks you create – be it fanfic, fanart, vids, filk, whatever – are important, because to understand SF&F as a whole, we need to understand not just the creations themselves, but how those creations are received. How do you respond to them as fans? How do they inspire you? What makes you passionate about them and how do you express that passion? Without knowing that, we’ll never have the whole story. YOU are part of that story.”

If you missed our Open Doors panel chat with popular culture librarians, a transcript is now available. Plus, if you own physical format fan materials please read on! https://goo.gl/SJvw4u