Library Idea of the Week
October 18, 2004
Cathy Belben, Librarian, Burlington-Edison High School

As an avid craftsy person, I’ve begun assembling a library scrapbook with pictures of events and people who’ve visited, performed, or done special things in the library. I hope this will be a dynamic collection that serves as a record for me and for my students of the fun and vital role of the library in our school. I hope to have pages done to share at WLMA next year—and I may try to scan some to my website eventually.

Scrapbooks are a growing hobby—an art, really—with conventions, stores, and all sorts of websites and groups popping up. As librarians, it’s important to keep up on trends like this, since our patrons will request magazines and books that tie in with their hobby. And since scrapbooking is about the creation of BOOKS, it’s to our advantage, professionally and personally, to know about and even experiment with.

If you are not a scrapbooker, I encourage you to take a look at some of the most popular sites on the web that offer examples of the artistic creations scrapbookers are designing:

www.twopeasinabucket.com
http://www.makingmemories.com/ideas/
http://www.heroarts.com/scrapbooking/index.cfm
http://www.mydaughterswish.com/photopost/

Because this art form has distinct trends, subscribing to a popular scrapbooking magazine might be a better investment than purchasing books, especially as you get a feel for the different styles.  My favorites are Creating Keepsakes, Scrapbooks Etc. (a Better Homes and Gardens magazine) and Memory Makers. All are available at Michaels and other craft stores.

Book of the Week
Moving right along with my “do crafts and prosper” theme, this week’s book is a new book-making book entitled MORE MAKING BOOKS BY HAND: EXPLORING MINIATURE BOOKS, ALTERNATIVE STRUCTURES, AND FOUND OBJECTS by Peter and Donna Thomas; Quarry Books, ISBN 1-59253-074-5.

This is one of the BEST books I have seen on book construction.  Although its audience is teen/adult, the instructions included in the first 50 pages are so succinct and carefully illustrated, they’re worth the price of the book.  Beyond those initial instructions, there are examples and instructions of 12 different specific types of books, and they are unique and original—several are styles I’ve never seen before. I’m excited to make examples of these books to share with students, and hope to include them in my craft workshop if I do it again.