For a group term project at the iSchool@UBC, I collaborated with fellow Dual MASLIS students, Elizabeth Bassett and Rachel Wertheim, to design an adult colouring program for Vancouver Public Library and a colouring book, Calm & Collections: Colouring Vancouver's Bibliospaces, to promote relaxation, well-being, and contemplation. Designed in conjunction with our plan for the colouring program at the VPL, the book’s primary goal is to serve as a resource for the program and its expressed purpose.
Currently, the VPL does not provide any adult colouring programs or events. Considering the current popularity of colouring books, and the popular—not academic—consensus about the relaxing effects of adult colouring, we recommend that the VPL incorporate an adult colouring program into its regularly scheduled programming.
Comprised of 25 pages, the colouring book includes nine black and white illustrations that depict a variety of independently-owned bookstores located around the Vancouver area.
In an effort to make our colouring pages more widely available and not just for the proposed program, we also created a website where the colouring pages can be downloaded and printed for free (calmandcollections.wordpress.com).
As a an artist and aspiring information professional, exploring and researching the connection between colouring and relaxation is of great interest to me.
It is important to note this colouring program was not officially proposed to VPL. There are potential plans to move forward with this project and create additional colouring books as part of a series.
I contributed the following to the group project:
- Drew nine detailed illustrations of select bibliospaces in Vancouver to serve as colouring sheets
- Conducted thorough research of more than eight beloved Vancouver bookstores through in-person visits and online research, which allowed me to capture the defining features of each space in the illustrations
- Made decisions regarding the layout and design of the colouring book using Adobe InDesign, that resulted in an easy to follow 25 page printed colouring book
- Created a Wordpress website that increased the availability of the colouring sheets and thus supported the goal of the project
- Conducted additional research on the topic at hand and other libraries with successful adult colouring programs, which allowed us to formulate a potential setup for a similar program at VPL
- Worked as a team with my fellow group members throughout the term (from the initial proposal to a product presentation)
Below are the colouring program setup details and some of the pages of the colouring book. All of the colouring pages can be downloaded at calmandcollections.wordpress.com (screenshots also below).
