Altered books use the printed page as both canvas and creative muse. Alterations can include painting, drawing, coloring, cutting, folding, and more. The results can vary as widely as the techniques applied to the book: for example, alterations can create poetry from prose, inject social commentary, provoke specific emotional reactions, explore ideas, or prompt new meanings to emerge from the original text. Altering books is not limited to "serious artists." Anyone can do it!

An introduction to the concept of altered books and information about the annual altered books contest at Lucy Scribner Library can be found here.