The SWG is rapidly approaching its nineteenth year of existence. When I founded the group in 2005, it was a niche community, one of hundreds of Tolkien fanfiction groups, and when the website opened in 2007, it was a niche website and one of dozens of Tolkien fanfiction archives. The landscape around us looks very different now. Where there are still Tolkien groups (mostly on Tumblr and Dreamwidth), we are one of the only Tolkien-specific archives remaining. When the OTW recently published the results of its 16th Anniversary Survey, and when the SWG was listed as one of "the most popular sites not already offered as answer options," that was a splash of cold water to the face: Somehow, this niche website had assumed some degree of centrality.

Watching other independent archives fade around you (and sometimes out from under you) creates a lot of anxiety. These are, after all, hubs that hold the creative work of dozens if not hundreds of people, and they are communities of people who have come to know and care about each other. Probably many of you reading this have been personally impacted by site and community closures. When one closes, especially with little or no warning, that represents a significant loss to many people. Over the summer, while researching independent archives, I asked the question, "What concerns about independent archives do you have?" and 72% of people responded that "small archives can close without warning." This was the top response to that question.

Sites fade and close for a lot of reasons, but declining interest (from mods or members and usually both), unforeseen tragedies that cut off funding or management of a site (or both), and obsolescence of technology are among the most common. Here, we've worked really hard across the years to insulate the SWG against declining interest and obsolescence of tech. We maintain a moderator team that is interested in running events to keep the group active, and in 2021, we migrated the site to software that we have every reason to believe will sustain us for many years to come. Within the past couple of months, we've put plans in place to ensure the site's survival in the event of unforeseen tragedies as well. We've ensured that there is a clear plan for who will pay for the site and who will administer and moderate the archives and our various social media if I am unable to do so.

None of these things are a guarantee that the SWG will live forever. It won't. An enduring message of Tolkien's works is one of impermanence: things change and fade. However, we recognize the incredible community so many people have built over the last (almost) nineteen years, and we want to be fully transparent with everyone of all that we are doing to ensure that the site survives and thrives for as long as it can.

We've also set up a page on the site about Governance of the SWG that includes information on how we run the site, fund it, and make decisions, including around continuance of funding and management of the site. We welcome questions always; you can hit REPLY to this email or reach out to the moderators through any of the usual channels.