Baltimore Science Fiction Society Incorporated

Support and promote basic literacy in general and science fiction/fantasy in particular through the annual compton crook award the best first novel in science fiction during the preceding year, the annual young writers contest, the annual poetry contest and support of local libraries through participation in local book and art festivals.

Hosted a semi-monthly workshop for writers on the second and fourth thursdays of each month in which writers reviewed works in progress. The group has been successful on having works by participants published. After march 2020, these sessions were held online using a conferencing platform.

BSFS maintains a Little Free Library in front of its building. During FY24, 755 books were distributed to the community. Books for children were 65% of the total and of these 24% were in Spanish. Donated books totaled 1105.

The Bobby Gear Memorial Charity Auction at Balticon commemorates Bobby's decades as a school teacher and BSFS volunteer by raising funds for BSFS Books for Kids to "to put books in the hands of children." BSFS Books for Kids will gift funds raised to the PTA, or program at the school administered by the Maryland Book Bank, at selected school for the purchase of books ordered by students for personal recreational reading. Funds also are used to purchase Spanish language children's books to put in the BSFS Little Free Library.

At the end of fiscal year 2024, bsfs had over 18,000 cataloged items in a library of books, magazines and recordings of speculative fiction. The library committee met monthly to review boxes of donations, add new items to the collection, and pack up duplicates for donation to the heinlein society and other literacy groups. Volunteers on the library committee logged 342 hours during fy 2024. Revenue from de-accessions and sale of duplicate volumes is restricted to preservation of the collection.