Interestingly, one of the biggest adult art movements of 2017 was the coloring in book craze. Whether it be re-living our youth, finding a different way to relax, or simply passing the time, book stores sold more ‘adult’ coloring in books in 2017 than all of the previous 10 years combined.

The Color Our Collections campaign jumped on this craze with their own spin, seeking to bridge the gap between history and contemporary culture in coloring in book format. Organized by The New York Academy of Medicine Library, 100 institutions got together and compiled free adult coloring books as well as free coloring book pages for download, reflecting the materials that they hold in their collections.

The collection provides something for everyone, from rare books to scientific diagrams to ornate Art Nouveau.

A good way to begin is to check out our favorite coloring books by The Newberry Library. Its offerings include an illustration that appears in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Museums and libraries around the world participate in the Color Our Collections campaign. For it, they create free adult coloring books with free printable coloring pages, based on items from their collections.

Over 100 institutions participate in the creative campaign. Here are some of them:

• The New York Botanical Garden Coloring Book
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art Coloring Book
• American Bookbinders Museum Coloring Book
• National Library of Medicine Coloring Book
• Royal College of Physicians
• Wangensteen Historical Library of Biology and Medicine, University of Minnesota Libraries
• Boston Children’s Hospital
• Cambridge University Library Coloring Book
• The New York Public Library Coloring Book
• OHSU Historical Collections & Archives Coloring Sheets

And here’s some of the types of pages to color. There’s something for everyone, depending on your interests.

Color Our Collections: Website