The definition of a book, according to dictionary.com, is a “written or printed work consisting of pages glued or sewn together along one side and bound in covers.”

Library books are sturdy, functional and they have two covers with multiple pages in between to read. Many people around the world look at a book and see not just a functional item, but art.

The very operation of a book as a long-lasting and dependable item appeals to the senses as a structural basis for something wild and fanciful. Artists will take older books that are no longer being used, including dictionaries, and deconstruct them as the base for their whimsical art pieces. There is an entire art form devoted to this called “altered books.”

Hobbyists will take books that are damaged or that have been discarded and will transform them into little pieces of art. Many altered book enthusiasts will take a book, alter a page with paint, wire, or other items that may focus in on a few words of the page or add new text, then send the book on to another altered book creator who will add their style to the following page. In this way the book travels around until it is complete, and then the person who started the round robin gets to keep the book.

Each book will have a theme such as “travel,” “Alice in Wonderland,” or whatever subject the originator decides. By the end, these books are colorful, whimsical, beautiful tactile treasures with the original pages so vastly altered that sometimes you have to really look hard through the book to discover what it was originally about.

They aren’t always created from books either. One of my favorites was an altered book created from flattened pop cans that had been fastened together in book form. This repurposing of one form into another was interesting and made me rethink what could be considered a ‘book.’

Often artists will take books as the structural base for their sculptures. Back in 2011-2012, there was an anonymous artist in Scotland who left little gems of sculptures in the libraries created from paper and mounted on books (not library books!) that were tokens of thanks for the libraries and librarians.

The Scottish public libraries collected these and put on an art show of the beautiful sculptures. My personal favorite is one crafted out of a book titled “LOST” that shows the book leaves made into a forest of trees with a small figure huddled inside the forest or book. It was accompanied by the quote, “‘No infant has the power of deciding….. by what circumstances (they) shall be surrounded’…. Robert Owen.”

Many of the sculptures were made from Ian Rankin’s books or in reference to Ian Rankin, which seemed to indicate they were created by a fan of his work. All the sculptures were dedicated to libraries in support of what they do, and each one was unique in its artistic style. One was a dragon in an egg all made entirely of paper. The words on the pages add dimension and a level of artistry to each piece, where starting with a blank piece of paper would have not been quite so provoking or interesting.

Minneapolis-based artist Joseph Decamillis resuscitates discarded old books by changing the covers of the books. He will actually insert a miniature oil painting into the cover, completely changing the focus of the book title to reflect sartorial or satirical influences by the artist. One example shows two headless children (the children with their heads on were original to the cover), gazing at a miniature oil of Paul Bunyan with the title, “Our Book World, real and make-believe.”

My purpose in writing this article is not to say go out and make an art piece out of library books. Rather, I would encourage you to look at the objects around you and consider how they can be changed into something inspiring and artistic. I love to see the creativity in taking something that is useful and transforms lives by being read, transformed into an entirely different direction of inspiration and art. If we can see our world and beautify it, this can make life challenging and fun.