[Michlib-l] Coloring Books for Adults

Fri Nov 20 12:05:48 EST 2015

Deb, 

I, too find a lot of the "adult" coloring books to be way too busy and take too much concentration which for me means they're not as relaxing. However, Dover has a line of adult coloring books that I would describe as "intermediate to advanced" coloring books. They're called "Creative Haven" and there's all sorts of them. Some of them have designs that are super detailed for using colored pencils with and some are not quite as detailed and you're able to use crayons with. I love them. I think I've purchased about 6 or 8 of them for my own use and will happily purchase more once I go thru these. I get mine at Michael's or JoAnn Fabrics but I'm sure any number of places would have them. 

I hope that helps. 

Valerie Long 
Desk Clerk 

----- Original Message -----

From: "Deb Renee Biggs (MDE)" <BiggsD at michigan.gov> 
To: "Elisabeth Phou" <elisabeth.phou at baldwinlib.org>, "rebekah craft" <rebekah.craft at baldwinlib.org> 
Cc: michlib-l at mail2.mcls.org 
Sent: Friday, November 20, 2015 11:35:26 AM 
Subject: Re: [Michlib-l] Coloring Books for Adults 

Thanks for the reminder Elisabeth and Rebekah that I obviously missed this post and exchange; oophs! Thanks all though, for indulging me on replying directly to me again! I just think that this is a great idea--low tech and low cost for libraries. I did get a reply from a co-worker of mine who mentioned that many of the adult coloring books are just too busy, and in fact, I know what she means. You really can't use crayons at all, just pencils and I like to use both! 

Let's make the world a more colorful and calm place! 

Kind regards, 
Deb 

Deb Renee Biggs 
Michigan eLibrary & Outreach Coordinator 
Library of Michigan 
--------------------------- 
517-373-4466 
biggsd at michigan.gov 
http://mel.org http://facebook.com/mel.org http://twitter.com/meldotorg 

On Nov 20, 2015, at 10:33 AM, Elisabeth Phou < elisabeth.phou at baldwinlib.org > wrote: 

Hi Deb, 

A list of answers to this question was compiled about a month ago. I'm forwarding it to you. 

Elisabeth 

---------- Forwarded message ---------- 
From: Maria Williams < maria.williams at baldwinlib.org > 
Date: Thu, Oct 22, 2015 at 4:37 PM 
Subject: Re: [Michlib-l] Coloring Books for Adults 
To: michlib-l at mcls.org 

Dear Listserv- 

Thank you for your answers. I've compiled all the responses I received and pasted them in below. I did contact the Fort Walton Beach Library in Florida by phone, and they've decided to let patrons color in the books that circulate and consider it a mini community art project. Once the pages are full up they'll withdraw them from circulation and display the completed pages in the library for all to see. I personally love this idea, and am considering doing it. 

I urge everyone to consider copyright ramifications of copying images from the pages, or otherwise encouraging patrons to make copies. Copyright can be murky, but I'm sure we all want to be good stewards. 

Good luck to all of you with your coloring programs! 

Responses to follow: 

“I’m thinking about getting them and I was going to put a notice on the front saying the book was available for checkout but you must make individual copies to color. Please do not color so that others can enjoy… something like that… ” 

“We are starting an Adult Coloring event next week. I plan to make copies of the pattern the patron wants on cardstock. ” 

“We ordered Adult coloring books for programs but they are not apart of the collection. They're simply going to be used for the program. ” 

“We gave those away as door prizes at one of our last events and they were such a big hit. Personally, based on your question, it might be problematic, but you could put a label in the book to suggest that if people need to color they should copy the page rather than color in the book. ” 

“We do not, because I don't know how we would keep people from coloring in them. ” 

“I have several coloring books of my own and find them a very relaxing pastime. I do not have them in the library collection. They are meant to be colored in otherwise why have them? Although I suppose patrons could copy pictures that they wanted to do. It could also be a fun thing to put on an activity table. We have one where we always have a jigsaw puzzle or a scrabble game always going. If you are getting a lot of requests for them maybe you could try a couple and see how it goes. I would be interested in the result if you decide to add them to your collection.” 

“We would be interested in this too. I guess you could somehow label them so that patrons don't color in them, but make copies to actually color. Can you please post the answers you get to this question?” 

“We don't have coloring books in the collection here at my library, but I've read several interesting threads on this topic surface on various Facebook groups for librarians, namely Programming Librarian Interest Group and ALA Think Tank . It seems several libraries have had success using coloring books as passive programming: leaving the coloring books and colored pencils on tables to be used in-house.” 

“Rather than checking out coloring books, we made coloring kits that patrons can check out in-house. They can select from an assortment of pages that we copied out of coloring books, and we provide colored pencils and a pencil sharpener. Similarly, we have a Zentangle kit that includes a Zentangle book, tiles, and micron pens. We provide coloring pages for children as well. Each child receives a box with 4 crayons that she can keep. ” 

“We have a coloring club that meets once a month. We provide the copies and colored pencils. Its a fun get together (for adults only) ” 

“It was my understanding that we can't copy out of purchased books? but may copy any we find off the internet? Can anyone clarify that?” 

“ I would check on the copyright page of the particular book in question. Some of them will allow copying for non-profit usage. Some of them will not. I think it varies based on publisher and artist. ” 

Maria Williams, MLIS 
Head of Adult Services 
Baldwin Public Library 

300 West Merrill Street 

Birmingham, MI 48009 

(248) 554-4651 

http://www.baldwinlib.org 

On Wed, Oct 21, 2015 at 3:48 PM, Maria Williams < maria.williams at baldwinlib.org > wrote: 

<blockquote>

Dear Listserv- 

Do you have coloring books for adults in your collection? 

If so, do you let people color in them? 

If not, how do you keep people from coloring in them? 

Thanks! 

M. 

Maria Williams, MLIS 
Head of Adult Services 
Baldwin Public Library 

300 West Merrill Street 

Birmingham, MI 48009 

(248) 554-4651 

http://www.baldwinlib.org 

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-- 

Elisabeth Phou, MLIS 
Adult/Teen Services Librarian 
Baldwin Public Library 
300 W. Merrill St. 
Birmingham, MI 48009 
248-554-4653 

</blockquote>

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