Library program teaches turning books into hiding places

Discarded hardback library books took on new life when about 20 adults learned how to recycle them into “disguised” storage boxes, according to a news release.

The July 16 program at the Virgil I. Grissom Library, “The Altered Book Craft: Secret Storage Box,” was part of the Newport News Public Library System’s Adult Summer Reading Program and taught by instructor Ruthann Grabowski. In the program, participants chose a book from a collection of discarded titles and received other supplies and tools before Grabowski showed them how to cut out the interior of the pages, glue the sides and add a felt interior, the release states.

She described the different ways the boxes could be decorated and used in various ways, including to hide jewelry or a gun on a bookshelf, as a picture frame or even as a disguised case for an eReader.

The library's free summer readings program for adults, teens and children runs through July 31.

For more information, call your local library: Grissom Library, 366 DeShazor Drive, 757-369-3190; Main Street Library, Bookmobile, 110 Main St., 757-591-4858; Pearl Bailey Library, 2510 Wickham Ave., 757-247-8677.

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