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We are the Science Fiction and Fantasy Forum of Stony Brook University, and we need some help.
For almost half a century, the Forum has been a place for nerds, geeks, and dweebs of all backgrounds and ages to congregate to play games, watch movies, read books, and discuss our favorite hobbies and interests. We have, over the course of many years (and in spite of a fire that consumed all but a fraction of our collection) have accumulated a library of almost 20,000 science fiction and fantasy books, graphic novels, reference books, tabletop manuals, and comics. Our shelves are home to classics new and old, series' ranging from Asimov's Foundation books to R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones. We have books signed by authors, early copies, even written by our very own alumni.
The Forum, though, is more than just (an incredible) library. It's a home away from home. Playing host to movie events, board game nights, boffer battles, thematic field trips, and D&D adventures, it's a club that has drawn people from all walks of life. Our members come from every major, culture, hobby group, and age range. Our alumni are professors at our university, doctors, radio hosts, writers, programmers, musicians, physicists...the list goes on. As the oldest club on campus, no one else has the history and deep roots in student identity that we do.
And now, we're struggling.
The building our club is housed in, the Student Union, is being renovated. Unfortunately, so are a multitude of other buildings on campus. The school has, simply, no place for us. We've been given a much smaller room than we had previously, which means the VAST majority of our collection is going to be put into storage. This is already a blow. Furthermore, the school will not provide us with any additional funding for our move. We had been anticipating at least some small contribution toward acquiring new furniture (our current stuff is old, rickety, and much of it is far too large to make adequate use of our smaller new space), but that isn't going to be happening. For the next three years at minimum, the Forum is losing access to most of its library and a large chunk of its lounge space. Our members are naturally upset at this blow - the Forum is near and dear to all our hearts. To lose such an integral part of our identity as our prodigious collection of books (we are very proud of our position as the largest science fiction and fantasy library on the entire East Coast!) is a severe blow. And yet, Forum members have been volunteering since last fall, helping pack away our beloved books. Dismanteling our club room is...disheartening, admittedly, but the dedication of our members is an inspiration.
So now I am here, asking you for your help. In spite of the absolutely astounding amount of effort our members are putting in to make our new club space as welcoming, fun, and all-around awesome as our old one, there are some things a can-do attitude just...can't do. We're looking for donations to help us replace our old furniture with stuff that can help us best utilize the new space. By replacing things like our massive couch and ancient, bulky tables, and then investing in more shelves, we can save more of our collection of books from being consigned to storage. We would also like to upgrade to a newer, bigger TV, as movie nights are a big draw for our club. We recently had a Harry Potter Week movie marathon, for example, in honor of Alan Rickman. Our computer, which we use to loan out books and keep tabs on our collection, is also a primordial relic of a bygone age. Carpeting, as the new space is hard-tiled floor, is on our list of options, to help minimize the abysmal echo of the new room. New library cards, bar-code scanner software and hardware, a sound system to match our TV, better chairs, the list goes on. The Forum is, unfortunately, stocked with mostly old and beaten-up furniture and electronics, much of it scavenged or donated.
With this move already giving our club such a beating, I'm hoping you will find it worthwhile to contribute a few bucks to help us keep us and our identity alive. I truly believe that what the Forum gives to students is immensely valuable: a place where they can be themselves, meet people with similar interests, and find a second home. No one here at the Forum wants to lose that, so please, consider donating today.
For almost half a century, the Forum has been a place for nerds, geeks, and dweebs of all backgrounds and ages to congregate to play games, watch movies, read books, and discuss our favorite hobbies and interests. We have, over the course of many years (and in spite of a fire that consumed all but a fraction of our collection) have accumulated a library of almost 20,000 science fiction and fantasy books, graphic novels, reference books, tabletop manuals, and comics. Our shelves are home to classics new and old, series' ranging from Asimov's Foundation books to R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones. We have books signed by authors, early copies, even written by our very own alumni.
The Forum, though, is more than just (an incredible) library. It's a home away from home. Playing host to movie events, board game nights, boffer battles, thematic field trips, and D&D adventures, it's a club that has drawn people from all walks of life. Our members come from every major, culture, hobby group, and age range. Our alumni are professors at our university, doctors, radio hosts, writers, programmers, musicians, physicists...the list goes on. As the oldest club on campus, no one else has the history and deep roots in student identity that we do.
And now, we're struggling.
The building our club is housed in, the Student Union, is being renovated. Unfortunately, so are a multitude of other buildings on campus. The school has, simply, no place for us. We've been given a much smaller room than we had previously, which means the VAST majority of our collection is going to be put into storage. This is already a blow. Furthermore, the school will not provide us with any additional funding for our move. We had been anticipating at least some small contribution toward acquiring new furniture (our current stuff is old, rickety, and much of it is far too large to make adequate use of our smaller new space), but that isn't going to be happening. For the next three years at minimum, the Forum is losing access to most of its library and a large chunk of its lounge space. Our members are naturally upset at this blow - the Forum is near and dear to all our hearts. To lose such an integral part of our identity as our prodigious collection of books (we are very proud of our position as the largest science fiction and fantasy library on the entire East Coast!) is a severe blow. And yet, Forum members have been volunteering since last fall, helping pack away our beloved books. Dismanteling our club room is...disheartening, admittedly, but the dedication of our members is an inspiration.
So now I am here, asking you for your help. In spite of the absolutely astounding amount of effort our members are putting in to make our new club space as welcoming, fun, and all-around awesome as our old one, there are some things a can-do attitude just...can't do. We're looking for donations to help us replace our old furniture with stuff that can help us best utilize the new space. By replacing things like our massive couch and ancient, bulky tables, and then investing in more shelves, we can save more of our collection of books from being consigned to storage. We would also like to upgrade to a newer, bigger TV, as movie nights are a big draw for our club. We recently had a Harry Potter Week movie marathon, for example, in honor of Alan Rickman. Our computer, which we use to loan out books and keep tabs on our collection, is also a primordial relic of a bygone age. Carpeting, as the new space is hard-tiled floor, is on our list of options, to help minimize the abysmal echo of the new room. New library cards, bar-code scanner software and hardware, a sound system to match our TV, better chairs, the list goes on. The Forum is, unfortunately, stocked with mostly old and beaten-up furniture and electronics, much of it scavenged or donated.
With this move already giving our club such a beating, I'm hoping you will find it worthwhile to contribute a few bucks to help us keep us and our identity alive. I truly believe that what the Forum gives to students is immensely valuable: a place where they can be themselves, meet people with similar interests, and find a second home. No one here at the Forum wants to lose that, so please, consider donating today.