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Books, Boxes, and Bananas: A Peek at the MIT Science Fiction Society

by
Scope Correspondent

It is a Tuesday night, and on the quiet fourth floor of MIT’s otherwise bustling Stratton Student center, the MIT Science Fiction Society (MITSFS) is holding open hours.  A narrow doorway separates airy, institutional hallways from the colorful world of room W20-473, which is lined from ceiling to floor with books.

“We…aim to have a library full of science fiction and fantasy and horror, and tangentially related genres, that we can make accessible to MIT, the community, and anybody else who’s interested,” says Laura McKnight, the Society’s Vice for 2014-2015 (she describes her role as “approximately Vice President.”) To the left of the doorway, a small plywood box is stacked on its end.  This, McKnight says, is the Society’s original library. When freshman Rudolf “Rudy” Preisendorfer founded MITSFS in 1949, members would pass their books from dorm room to dorm room in this box.  Things have changed a bit in the last 65 years. “Our total book count is, last I heard, 63,000,” says Laura McKnight, the Society’s Vice for 2014-2015 (she describes this role as “approximately Vice President.”) “At one point, our goal was to collect all the science fiction that had ever been published. But with the rise of self-published science fiction, that’s not even sort of possible anymore.”

In the stacks at the MITSFS Library.

In the stacks at the MITSFS Library.

Still, MITSFS (pronounced “mits-fiss”) does maintain the world’s largest open-shelf collection of science fiction. The Society strives to acquire every new science fiction publication for its collection, sometimes obtaining proofs before a book is officially published. The results are staggering. In addition to the two rooms of stacks in the Stratton Center, MITSFS keeps a warehouse facility for extra copies. “We do all sorts of shenanigans to try and fit as many books as possible in,” says McKnight, adding that ladders are required to reach the top shelves of paperbacks. The age of many of the library’s materials hints at how far the society has come. McKnight points out a collection of Weird Tales that dates back to the 1920’s, beside several other early periodicals that were hand bound by members over the years.  Early science fiction was primarily published in magazines, says McKnight, and the Society’s collection is full of stories that “you can’t really find many other places.”

Weird Tales.

Weird Tales.

The culture of the Society reflects the years past, as well. “Since MITSFS is so old, we have a lot of basically fifty year-old in-jokes that nobody remembers the origin of,” says McKnight. She points out the library’s collection of bananas, which are everywhere—strung from the ceiling, tucked into shelves, and sitting on the limited desk space by the doorway. The bananas are plush, rubber, or plastic; one is dressed in chain mail, while another has a shark erupting from its peel. McKnight says that nobody knows how the fruit obsession began, but that members may check out certain bananas to take home with them. “Be warned that we have a digital electronic checkout system, and if you return the banana late, it will fine you,” McKnight says. Most members likely come to check out not bananas, but books—up to eight at a time, for as long as three weeks. Membership is not restricted to MIT students; McKnight notes that many alumni remain members, and members don’t even have to be affiliated with the university at all (though MIT students do pay a discounted membership rate). McKnight estimates that there are “some number of hundreds” of members this year.  Jesse Ashcraft-Johnson, a Keyholder in the Society (he has a key to the stacks and can hold the library open) thinks that if there were a single sheet of paper representing each member, they “would fit into a reasonable binder.” These members carry on a labor of love nearly seven decades in the making. After wandering through the stacks, the “original library” by the doorway seems even smaller than before.  The box has now become a time capsule, McKnight says. There’s only one problem. “Nobody knows when it’s supposed to be opened.” For now, it remains sealed by the stacks, a testament to how far the Society has come.

MIT SFS 2

 

The Society’s website (http://web.mit.edu/mitsfs/www/) provides detailed information about membership fees, library rules, and contact information, as well as a book catalog, book reviews, and an “almost fanzine” where members can swap science fiction-themed material. Prospective members should refer to the website for more information. 

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