Noted as one of the best preserved collections of pulp material and paperbacks in modern times, it was donated to UB Libraries in 1994 by Dr. George Kelley, a professor at Erie Community College in Buffalo, New York.
[1] The collection spans genres from adventure, crime and horror to Westerns, fantasy and science fiction, including books, pulp magazines, fanzines and other literature.
[note 1] Academically, the George Kelly Paperback and Pulp Fiction Collection stands as a vast resource of cultural information that is reflected in the discourse of the works and their imagery, especially sub-culture's social attitudes and behaviors, as well as evolving gender roles and identities in mid-20th century America.
[7] Dr. George Kelley admits that he decided to donate the collection to University at Buffalo, after receiving an ultimatum from his wife who told him: "I can't get to the washer and dryer because of all the shelving.
A work from the collection,The Guilty Are Afraid by James Hadley Chase, had the honor of being the 37th million record to the WorldCat database, in June 1997.