The Toronto Public Library houses one of the planet’s biggest science-fiction archives


NOVEMBER 7, 2021

As a young reader, David Silverberg was influenced by writers JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, David Eddings and Kurt Vonnegut. His lifelong interest in science fiction and fantasy led him to examine the Merrill Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation and Fantasy at the Toronto Public Library (TPL) in 2010.

There, she found a “cozy, but impressively large lair of other like-minded people,” says Toronto Star contributor and writing coach Silverberg. “I was really impressed by the range of material they had, from old sci-fi magazines to unique books by Ray Bradbury, Marion Zimmer Bradley, and Isaac Asimov.”

In the half-century since American-Canadian science-fiction writer and editor Judith Merrill donated her personal collection of 5,000 items to TPL, the genre has grown with it, enjoying enormous popularity on TV and in books and films. The much-anticipated “Dune”, based on Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel, opened in theaters on October 22 and grossed over US$223 million worldwide.

Last month, TPL opened the “Spised Out: 50 Years of the Merrill Collection” exhibit at the Toronto Reference Library’s TD Gallery on Yonge Street, showcasing a collection that now contains 80,000 items, making it one of the largest research collections in the world. makes one. of speculative fiction and popular culture – and the greatest in a public library setting.

Lillian H. on College Street. Located on the third floor of the Smith Branch, the original collection – which includes fiction, non-fiction, autobiographies, magazines, pulp magazines, graphic novels, manuscripts, correspondence, original art and role-playing. Books – Originally called Space Out Library before the name was officially changed in 1990.

“The collection is certainly a Toronto treasure,” says Sephora Henderson, senior department head for the Merrill Collection, before adding that as with most of the library’s resources, “there are still many people who haven’t discovered this gem yet. ”

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times have changed Since the inception of the archive. “In the 1970s, science fiction was written by a handful of writers, mostly men, and almost entirely white,” says Kim Hull, a general librarian at TPL. “This has changed radically, with more diverse representation becoming apparent in recent years, with many more women, POCs and gender-nonconforming people writing across all genres under the speculative-fiction umbrella.”

The collection is home to many valuable works, the rarest being the William M. Timlin is a book “The ship that went to Mars.” “It’s a title from the 1920s,” says Hull, “that had a very limited print run of 2,000 copies. The whereabouts of most copies are unknown.”

Rare or not, “all items have great cultural value,” Henderson says, “as they inform users about trends in the genre. Like ‘Frankenstein,’ ‘Dracula,’ ‘1984’ and ‘Dune’ Titles have been hugely influential in shaping modern literature and have become coveted in popular culture at large.

Silverberg, for one, thinks it’s important to make more people aware of how culturally significant sci-fi and fantasy writers have become in the wider literary landscape. “His imaginative world-building,” he says, “has inspired countless young writers. [including myself] To pick up the pen.”

Because the items in the collection are non-circulating, Henderson says, “we have a lot of regular people who visit daily or even weekly.” Visitors included Neil Gaiman, Laurel K. Hamilton, Brandon Sanderson and Corey Doctorow, as well as academics and researchers who have traveled through Australia to access the works.

The curious can also view more than 172,000 (and counting) items from the home using the library’s digital archives. Digital access also ensures that these materials will last for generations. “In a special-collections environment, where there are rare books and archival material, great care is taken to handle more material than is absolutely necessary,” says Henderson. “Digital surrogates provide a way to examine and enjoy them without excessive handling.”

Given the popularity of the genre, this will remain a priority. “It will always be geek culture,” Henderson says. “But it is no longer a stigma, but a matter of pride for many.”