Kimberly Hirsh

I’m attending the #FanLIS2025 Symposium today and will be live-blogging!

Super exciting opportunity shared at #FanLIS2025, the British Library and the University of Glasgow are sponsoring a PhD student to explore the publication, collection and preservation activities of online fan communities and fan archives. Great topic at a great university!

Ludi Price is introducing the fifth FanLIS Symposium. #FanLIS2025 doesn’t have a particular theme. Ludi asks how are things different in FanLIS now than five years ago? (A note on names and titles: I’m using first names for people I know personally, titles/last names for people I don’t.)

First up, Susrita Das with Food, fan art, and preserving a moment in time: a case study of the fandom-themed cafe ecosystem as alternative memory institution. #FanLIS2025

Das is investigating cafes as a method of cross-cultural fandom for Indian fans of Korean entertainment. #FanLIS2025

Das’s RQ: “Do fandom-centered cafe systems exhibit characteristics of alternate, informal memory institutions?” as opposed to formal, traditional memory institutions like libraries and archives #FanLIS2025

Das is comparing cafes in Delhi, Kolkata, and Siliguri. #FanLIS2025

Some cafes deliberately center the fan experiences as part of their marketing while others don’t.

Fans’ notes and art posted in cafes tend to be dated and signed, creating an informal archive, #FanLIS2025

Cafes decorated with standees and posters provide a historical record of the life cycle of a media text. #FanLIS2025

These K cafe spaces tend to demonstrate uncompensated feminized fan labor while cafe proprietors tend to be men who may not be fans themselves. #FanLIS2025

What happens when these cafes shut down and their archival records disappear and functions cease? #FanLIS2025

Next! Saskia Dreßler with How subversive is shipping really? An analysis of heteronormative elements in same-sex relationships focused on German-language anime and manga fan fiction

Dreßler looked at fanfiction on fanfiction.de, analyzed 40 stories from the Sailor Moon and Naruto fandoms, focusing on gay main characters (as represented in the fic, not necessarily the original text), the most popular stories, and stories that are downloadable and citable. #FanLIS2025

Stories Dreßler analyzed tend to apply heteronormative tropes to queer relationships. #FanLIS2025

Dreßler is sharing so much in the findings portion that I can’t keep up! #FanLIS2025

German-speaking fans do identify gaps but tend to fill gaps with heteronormative content even in queer stories. #FanLIS2025

Dreßler “Not everything is queer just because it appears to be.” #FanLIS2025

Deborah shares 2 books about whale falls, providing an environment for an ecosystem after a whale dies. These could be good for lateral reading, having students read one and then the other. [Life After Whale] (https://school.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?tid=94746) and Whale Fall. #aisl25

Deborah says there is a trend of middle grade books with parents/adults having mental illness and kids having to keep secrets to keep siblings together. #aisl25

Prolific author Kate DiCamillo’s Orris and Timble series has a new book coming soon. #aisl25

Deborah suggests pairing informational texts with graphic novels. For example, kids who love Ben Clanton’s Narwhal and Jelly series might be interested in Candace Fleming’s Narwhal: Unicorn of the Arctic. #aisl25

Deborah works as a trainer for Teaching Books, which includes a Book Resume for each title that librarians can use to justify inclusion of books in their collection, especially helpful responding to book challenges. #aisl25

Next up at #aisl25, Building Manga Collections Students Will Love with Suzie Bergstrom.

There’s so much info in this manga session that I can’t really keep up with live-blogging! #aisl25