Workshop at Norton Public Library

A great afternoon at the Norton Public Library working with the enthusiastic Children's Librarian Lee Parker and a gathering of parents with children from ages 2 to teen with a few adults coming to have fun of their own. We had three stations to make three simple books: accordion, stick and elastic, and hot dog booklet plus one with stencils, collage papers, glue, and markers. Our recycled paper was a blast from the past—paper left from a dot matrix printer. Some of the kids left with handfuls of strips with holes for projects at home. The workshop was funded by the Norton Cultural Council which is a chapter of the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

View some of the books here.

University of Utah Workshop

I had a wonderful time at the workshop I taught for the University of Utah Book Arts Program in Salt Lake City. Twenty-five teachers from all grade levels and interests plus three great studio assistants, Becky, Mary, and Laura, came together for two days of bookmaking with recycled materials. The atmosphere was lively and energetic and there was lots of sharing. Lauri taught us another way to make "pling" (plastic string) from plastic grocery bags, Brent shared some of his great bookmaking ideas, Becky showed us a variation on the Who Am I? book, Claudia taught Liz how to write her name in Hebrew, and everybody helped make it fun . That's what's so great about making books—so much pleasure along with the potential for so much learning.

Here are photos of some of the books that were made.

Summer Journal

One of my favorite things about bookmaking is how easy it is to make small changes or additions to an existing form and have the new books feel fresh and exciting.

For the Summer Journal, make 4 hot dog booklets: one from a grocery bag and three from used US Letter/A4 paper with writing on one side only. The three smaller books are glued into the the three double page spreads of the larger book. Easy and fun. I named my three little journals Garden Journal, Beach Journal, and Rainy Day Journal.

Written directions

in Spanish

Video

Are Libraries Necessary?

Jule Siegel posted a link on the Book Arts List to this article on the Fox Chicago website:

I thought I'd share some of my comments:

I think all of us lovers of books and libraries need to speak up. Libraries, to me, are the most democratic institutions we have in this country and their existence is essential. In contrast to the Fox news article, a recent story in our local paper was about how community support stopped the Mayor from making major cuts to the library budget.

I am very interested in the digital/book debate and hope that the future holds the coexistence of books and digital media. I think the western mind has a hard time accepting duality and both instead of either/or. Our idea of progress seems to be ditch the old and embrace the new. I am hoping that maybe this time we can do keep both. There is information that is perfect to get in digital form. There is nothing like curling up with a book that you hold in your hand.