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Turning old books into new art at the library

Some books serve their life well, and need to move on. Old dictionaries, outdated encyclopedias, aged reference materials and so on, they don’t have much of a use anymore.

Some books serve their life well, and need to move on. Old dictionaries, outdated encyclopedias, aged reference materials and so on, they don’t have much of a use anymore. Most go to a recycling bin, but what if they could be used for something else? That is the inspiration behind the Upcycle Books day at the Yorkton Public Library, which brought together people of all ages to make art out of old books.

The event was inspired by artwork in Chief Librarian Meagan Richards’ office, which was made out of an old book. Tonia Vermette with the Yorkton Arts Council thought the combination of art and books was a natural way for the two organizations to collaborate.

“Isn’t that the perfect marriage between the library, the community pARTners gallery that is within the library, and the arts?”

The day saw people of all ages gather in the library to cut, glue and paint new art projects over the afternoon, and some regular patrons got going ahead of time to make their own artwork - including Vermette herself, who made flowers with her daughter.

The books supplied by the library were books that were going to be recycled, as well as books brought by people attending the workshop. Vermette notes that some of the books are outdated reference materials and all of them have been “rescued” from the recycling bin. For example, Sonja Pawliw created a bouquet of paper flowers out of old gardening magazines featuring flowers.

“You get a different look depending on what book you’re tearing apart... It was fun to see what you could do out of paper.”

The workshop had people working with different books and techniques, whether embracing the form of the book or tearing up pages to get something completely new. There were guides at the event to help people put their artwork together and try new forms.

“You can make whatever your want, tear it up and get into it.”

Stacey Zorian was one of the attendees at the event, and she hopes to see more events like this in the city. She believes that there need to be more chances for adults in the city to meet up and create art projects, both for the sake of creating something and to have the opportunity to meet other people and work together. She thinks that while there are many chances for kids to create crafts, it’s something adults can benefit from as well, and an all-ages event like Upcycle Books is a good example of how to create such an event, as it was a chance for all ages to connect and create.

Vermette hopes to have more afternoon art days similar to the Upcycled Books afternoon. Artwork created at and for the event will be on display until the community pARTners gallery until February 25.