The Brooklyn Art Library is a collection of 41,000 sketchbooks from over 130 countries. The library has the collection on shelves, but it’s also digitally cross-referenced and available for free for the public to browse.
They have launched a project to encourage the creation and dissemination of sketchbooks. Participants order standard-sized blank sketchbooks and fill them up. The project is funded by a payment from the creator when they buy the sketchbook or pay an extra fee to have it digitized.
SANDWICHES By: Emily Pelka
The “sketches” can be anything: doodles, observational studies, photomontages, or imaginative works. The artist assigns keywords and search terms so that the content can be discovered online. You can visit the website and search by keyword or theme.
Like the internet itself, the Sketchbook Project appears to be uncurated and unfiltered, with no gatekeeper. That can be either attractive to you or not, depending on your point of view. Part of the appeal to people who visit the collection is the fun of randomly encountering someone else’s point of view.
All the books are displayed on the shelves and available for browsing, and some are even brought around the neighborhood by bookmobile.
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Sketchbook Project