The Archive of our Own (A03) fanfiction database has been operation in the last 10 years and has over 1.6 million members creating and reading works of fanfiction. In A03, anyone can be an author, editor, book marketer, publisher or content creator. With the myriad of digital social media platforms writers and readers of fanfiction can interact directly and immediately. The digital content being produced is dynamic and readily available for free to anyone with a smartphone or computer. In this session, we will explore the global and digital ecology behind fanfiction. This includes the creative autonomy of fanfiction writers, the ways in which they can produce a story rich in multimodal content and how their interactions with their readers can engage readers in curating and creating digital content as well. We will also discuss some ideas and engagement strategies for libraries might think about when engaging with fanfiction readers and writers in their communities.
The way that digital platforms for fanfiction are growing, and the incredible content that’s free and readily available to anyone with digital access, it is in the best interest of libraries to be an active participant in the rich digital ecology of fanfiction. In attending this session, we hope to: 1) Raise awareness about fanfiction and how it impacts traditional print readership 2) Inspire folks to reimagine programming for their libraries that is focused on digital content and its possibilities 3) share information about new ways digital fiction content is being produced and disseminated View and reflect on the presentation at: bit.ly/beyondfandoms. Thank you all for your feedback!
I have worked in libraries (both academic and public) for over 25 years. I am a mom to a 10 year old, love baking and travelling! In my career as a librarian, I've been hugely interested in the romance genre, libraries and sustainability and now, fanfiction!
