Yesterday, National Public Radio had an interview with artist Caitlin Phillips who makes purses out of discarded books.

Like most of us, Phillips was hesitant initially to cut books apart. But a job in a used bookstore opened her eyes to the huge numbers of out-of-date and damaged books that end up in dumpsters every year.

"It kills me to throw anything away," Phillips says, "and throwing a book away just seems like the worst thing ever."

Recyling books into art isn't...

Altered books @ TSCPL  
September 27 – November 7, 2008
              
Click here to view photos of this year's entries.
Now in its 2nd year, the altered books project at TSCPL invited participants to express their creativity and recycle at the same time. Staff members Brea
Black and Kate Hughes taught a workshop in August that introduced techniques and materials that could be used to turn a discarded book into a work of art. At the end of the workshop, participants selected a...

Altering a book allows you to express your creativity and recycle at the same time. Paint, collage, cut, glue, rebind, rubber stamp, add to, take away… any artistic expression is encouraged.