Color Our Collections

Posted February 4, 2016 by Tara Pealer

Anyone who’s set foot into a bookstore recently has spotted the latest trend in bookselling: the adult coloring book. There’s ocean scenes, fandom pages, and kaleidoscope images. There are funny ones, spiritual ones, and calming ones. Long story short, adults have been given a mass market way to say “it’s acceptable for me to color too!”

And, when it comes to trends in the book industry, libraries and archives like to be included. Which brings us to the latest initiative sweeping archives across the nation–“Color Our Collection”.

I first ran into the concept when browsing through the Librarian and Archivist tumblr community, when I saw a post about how the Bodleian Libraries (at the University of Oxford) is inviting people to add color to their rare book images. However, they’re not the only ones. A quick google search will pull up results from the Digital Public Library of America, the New York Public Library, and the Stanford Libraries. Even the Smithsonian is participating in the fun!

Okay, but real talk: what do they plan on getting out of this initiative? By doing this, archives, libraries, and museums are bringing attention to their collections by offering them up to be colored and interactive with their audiences. By making such fun images available online, these organizations are being innovative in creating a dialogue with their patrons and beyond.

Are you coloring, or interested in seeing these creations come to life? Check over at twitter’s #ColorOurCollections to post your own and see what other people have done!