When Worlds Collide: Dismantling the Science Fiction and Fantasy Collection at the University of New Brunswick,Saint John

The Ward Chipman Library on the Saint John campus of the University of New Brunswick is home to a freestanding collection of over 32,000 science fiction and fantasy works, including reference material, primary works, magazines, and mass market/pulp items from most of the 20th century. Some scholars, including Dr. Farah Mendlesohn of Middlesex University, have described it as one of the best in the world. Active development of this collection ceased in 2000 however, and in recent years it has been primarily used as a popular reading collection, with little academic use. A decision to reduce the collection to one designed solely for academic research was met with great protest, and subsequently the collection was weeded and the remainder moved to storage to free up space for other library initiatives. The article describes the collection, the reasons for the proposed and actual reductions, the protests, and the valuable lessons learned from the experience, including the importance of collection development and management policies, the importance of involving the user community to ensure that everyone's needs are met, and the tensions that sometimes arise when intellectual and practical concerns collide.