What Fanfiction Archives Are Available At John Gray Library?

I went in with the kind of curiosity that makes me scan every shelf label, and my quick take is this: John Gray Library doesn’t seem to host a formalized fanfiction archive as a single, public collection. Instead, fan-created stuff tends to be scattered — tucked into student literary journals, donated zines, or special collections of personal papers. So if you’re hunting fanfiction there, try the library catalogue with keywords like 'zine', 'fanzine', 'fan fiction' or the fandom name; then check special collections finding aids and email the archivist.

If that feels like a hassle and you want immediate reading, head to 'Archive of Our Own' or 'FanFiction.net', and look up fandom histories on 'Fanlore'. But if your goal is preservation or to see rare zines in person, contacting John Gray Library staff and asking about donations or non-circulating collections is the best bet — they’re usually happy to point you toward hidden gems or to explain access rules.

Honestly, digging through library catalogues and special collections is one of my favorite tiny adventures — and John Gray Library is no exception. From what I’ve found and from talking to a couple of friendly librarians there, there isn’t a single, labeled “fanfiction archive” sitting on their shelves the way you’d find a dedicated fandom archive online. That said, fanworks do show up in a few different corners: zine and small-press collections, student literary magazines, donated personal papers, and any special collections that collect local creative work. Libraries often categorize fan-made chapbooks and fanzines under terms like 'zine', 'fanzine', 'small press', or 'local authors', so searching those keywords in the catalogue is where I’d start.

If you want a practical route, I’d poke the online catalogue for keywords like "fan fiction", "fanzine", "zine", "fan works", or even specific fandom names. Then switch to the special collections/archives finding aids on the John Gray site — those often have folder-level descriptions that don’t show up in the public catalogue. If something promising appears in a finding aid, the next step is emailing or asking the archivist for access: many items are non-circulating and stored offsite or need appointment viewing. Also check for student-run publications or creative writing repositories; universities and colleges frequently host literary journals where fan-inspired pieces or fandom-adjacent creative writing can live. One caveat: copyright and donor restrictions sometimes limit how much of fanfiction gets digitized or made broadly available, so physical-only holdings are common.

If you come up empty or want quicker access, don’t forget the big fan-hosted hubs like 'Archive of Our Own', 'FanFiction.net', or community-curated histories like 'Fanlore' for broader fandom context. The Internet Archive can also have digitized zines and fanzines donated by individuals. My favorite little move is to email the John Gray Library reference desk with a short request — librarians often know about uncatalogued boxes or recent donations — and suggest they consider a fanworks or zine drive if the community’s interested. I’ve done that at a few campuses and you’d be surprised how quickly a small collection idea becomes a real box on the shelf. If you want, tell me a fandom or specific title and I’ll sketch a search query you can paste into their catalogue or the archivist’s email.