This is the awesomest awesome ever! (Fan visit to the Fanzine Archives)

[morgandawn]

This brought me to tears…..in a good way.

"O HAI, U of I! I IZ K/S SHIPPER, IN UR ARCHVE, READIN UR ZINES. XD"

Thank you to sherrold who first tracked down the University of Iowa as a resting place for her zines.

Comments

[birggitt]

Girl, that's awesome! I'm updating my passport, and moving to Iowa City!

[adair]

Thanks for posting the link. I have a collection there - no K/S, but I'm happy to see how the collections are managed. The sign-in process and restrictions are standard for special collection libraries - they used to be called Rare Books - and the zines are stored in acid-free boxes - I recognize them. Fannish behavior when confronted with material in their passion is not that different from many academic researchers - the Iowa staff should be familiar with it. Most of their restrictions are designed to prevent damage to the materials, or theft, but they also want their materials to be used. We are fortunate that Iowa is willing to take on the saving of zines and other fan materials - I once planned on donating my zines to the university library where I work, but Iowa's special collection is ideal - things are in one place, where they can be found without searching all over the country. Who knows, Iowa City may become a fannish center - fan gatherings to visit the library, little conventions with special trips to the collections - some people may write theses on fan and its zines.

(Author of the post that was linked to)

[darksnowfalling.livejournal.com]

I have a collection there - no K/S, but I'm happy to see how the collections are managed.

YAY THANKS SO MUCH for donating! ^-^ I'm pretty exclusively a K/Ser, but I'm really glad that so much pan-fandom history is getting preserved there. The Special Collections staff take obvious pride in caring for the materials.

Fannish behavior when confronted with material in their passion is not that different from many academic researchers - the Iowa staff should be familiar with it.

You seriously have no idea how relieved I am to hear you say that. I was freaking out the entire LONG drive home, wondering if I would get some kind of notice from the University saying that I would not be welcome back because of the table-hiding incident.

Who knows, Iowa City may become a fannish center

That would be the most amazing thing ever, and the City would be very welcoming of it. As I said the post, unusual things/people just seem to congregate there. On a previous visit there, I saw a man with waist-length dreds and a velvet top hat bicycle down the street. No one else batted an eye. XD

[gattagrigia]

Thanks for linking to this! It's a wonderful read especially after all the discussions this last weekend.