ABOUT THE LIBRARY
When it was first conceived in 2007, the mission statement of the Phantom Project was for me to read, review, discuss, and grade every adaptation, version, sequel, or spin-off of Gaston Leroux's serial novel The Phantom of the Opera ever made. There are hundreds upon hundreds of different versions of the story, with more being made every year, and even if the project had stayed with its original goal, it would probably never have been finished!
The Phantom Project started as part of a project for my graduate studies in literary musicology. It was slowly met with a lot of response from other fans on the web, many of whom donated materials, wrote in to share their opinions and experiences in the fandom, suggested missing items, and otherwise welcomed discussing the project and its content with open arms. In mid 2008, funding for my studies fell through and I was forced to leave school for a while, but the Project continued, now a passionate hobby that was being shared with plenty of other Phantom enthusiasts around the globe.
Over the course of its lifetime, the Project has reviewed hundreds of Phantom-related materials, been a center for discussion about various interpretations of the story, and weathered the storms of new materials coming out all the time, including Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies, the PersonA: Phantom of the Opera video game, and the infamous semi-professional film Angel of Music. Through it all, I've had a blast working on it and enjoying talking to other Phantom fans, even if I occasionally fall off the planet for a while due to other life concerns.
Once I arrived in my professional career as a librarian, I realized that the huge reams of material I had on Phantom-related adaptations could be shared in a useful form - I had the makings of a resource, not just for me but for anyone else with an interest in the story. So the Project became the Library, still hosting reviews but now making its main focus preserving a record of every Phantom-related piece of media and its history so that the study of the subject could continue on with anyone who wanted to look into it.
While the future is never certain, I anticipate that the Phantom Library will be here for a long time to come, and that it will hopefully continue to provide connections to different materials and discussions for all the fans who want to participate.