The Library’s Frequently Asked Questions
How much anime do you actually have?
As of August 2009, the library contains about 7000 hours, or 10 terabytes, of anime in various media, including over 2000 DVDs and 500 manga and books. Put it all together, and we have enough anime to run an all-day/all-night marathon showing for the span of nine and a half months. Needless to say, no one has tried this yet.
I’m trying to pick something to borrow… what’s good?
A lot of stuff. The librarian is happy to offer suggestions, but it helps if you mention what else you’ve liked, or a series that’s similar to what you’re looking for. We have everything from kids’ shows to artistic experimental anime to gory violence, so “good” depends a lot on what genres you like.
When are you getting…?
Sooner than we were planning to before you asked. We have a limited budget to buy stuff and a limited amount of manpower to get discs into the circulating library, so we always have a gigantic acquisitions list. You can tweak our priorities by asking for titles, since we’re far more likely to buy a series we know nothing about if we know that there’s at least one person who wants to watch it. Just do not expect to ask for something one week and borrow it the next.
Your tape or disc is messed up!
If you happen to find that one of our library items is mislabeled, or damaged, or otherwise screwed up, please let the librarian know so we can correct the problem. With so many items in our library, it’s perfectly possible that you’re the first person to watch it… or you could just happen to be the next person after the guy who accidentally scratched that DVD up completely and didn’t mention it to us.
Do you have any bootlegs?
No, we do not. We spend a great deal of our budget buying legitimate copies of anime from domestic distributors, with an occasional Japanese import. We also have some non-profit fansubs in our collection, but we replace those with commercial copies as the series are released (or we remove the discs if we can’t replace them).
Do you have any hentai?
No, we do not. Parents, please note that this does not mean that all our anime and manga are suitable for younger viewers: we do not collect things which are way over the top, but most of our library patrons are college students or older, so there are plenty of titles left which would be rated R either for violence or sexual situations if they were normal movies/books. Please ask if you’re unsure of the suitability of a title: we can usually flag the questionable ones for you.
Do you accept donations?
Absolutely! Donations in all media are highly appreciated. Our library would not have been so big today if it weren’t for donations. You can take a tax write-off for any donation. We also host a manga collection, and will accept manga volumes or anime-related books (any language is fine). We can provide an acknowledgement letter for tax deduction purposes, so please inquire about this when you make your donation.
How else can I help?
We’re always looking for people to help us maintain our library or get involved in club activities in general. Send an email to anime-library@mit.edu if you’d like to get involved in running the library, or just come to our showings or business meetings and introduce yourself to the officers.