FOR GREAT SCHOLARSHIP

[rynling]

After finishing up my book on manga and fancomics, I donated all of my research materials to a university known for having fanzines in its special collections. I met and talked with the librarian in charge of that particular set of materials at a recent academic conference, and he was like, "Go ahead and send your fanzines over!!" So I did. It was kind of a lot of stuff, but I was happy for it to find a good home.

This morning the librarian got in touch to let me know that the library is naming a new special collection after me.

Wow. That's wild. I sure hope I didn't send them any porn.

Comments

[raisedbymoogles]

as bids for immortality go, that's a pretty good one!

[rynling]

Thanks!

I think it's probably just a digital tag on an in-house database, though.

Most university library "special collections" I've visited are nothing a bunch of disintegrating cardboard boxes in a literal broom closet, and I have a sneaking suspicion that this is probably true in this situation as well. That being said, I only have so much space in my apartment, and it seemed like a shame to just throw away all these beautiful zines.

[runicmagitek]

This is amazing! Congrats!

I like to think in an alternate universe I actually pursued a career in art history and became the dragon I always wanted to be with a hoard of amazing art. I just... museums and libraries and archives are so fucking cool and I would be over the fucking moon to preserve a bunch of fanzines.

[lassarina]

That sounds really cool, honestly.