Call It a Purse, Call It a Satchel, Call it FUN!
Dodie Ownes -- School Library Journal, 6/17/2008 6:40:00 AM
Emily Platz, teen services librarian at Farmington Library (CT) really knows how to squeeze a penny and get a dime. For less than $30, she and 18 teens spent a great evening creating 'book purses' from fabric 
odds and ends, discarded books, needle and thread and a glue gun. Platz tells SLJTeen that she first heard about recycling withdrawn books to make purses from the PUBYAC electronic discussion list, “then I did some research and found lots of great links from crafters with instructions and images of the book purses that they had made. Knowing that my teens would want to take their purse home after a 2 hour program, I opted to use instructions from the Library for Life blog, with some slight modifications.”
Without access to a sewing machine, Platz's teens had to sew the linings together using any stitch they knew. Some opted to use the hot glue gun to glue pieces of fabric together and not sew at all. Instead of buying handles, 
they cut strips of fabric and glued them underneath the lining. The results were sturdy and looked professional. Platz purchased all of the supplies from a craftstore: 20 one yard packages of fabric for $1; one hot glue gun for $3.50; 50 glue sticks for $1.99, and one box of buttons for $1.99 – total cost $27.48! “The books were accumulated from several different sources,” says Platz. “I brought several of my own hard cover books to use, some teens came to the program with their own books and we used some books that had been donated as well as library discards. ”
Platz's latest craftiness? The Altoid Tin Project. “I had way more boys for this project than for the Book Purses,” she laughs. “This program didn't require much work on my part as I raided our craft closet and brought out everything we had in there.” The hardest part of this program was getting enough Altoid Tins. Library staff donated 10 tins, but Platz had to buy another 20 and empty the mints into little baggies. “I'm still eating Altoids!," she said.
Links for Book Purse and Altoid Tin inspiration:
iVillage Garden Web from Trash to Treasure Forum
HGTV Recycled Hardcover Book Purses
