The Sketchbook Project is closing down

The Sketchbook Project is closing down. Brooklyn Library is calling time on its holding of thousands of sketchbooks.

The Sketchbook Project has been running for as long as this blog has been running so it's very sad to see that it's coming to an end as a collection in one space.

What is The Sketchbook Project?

• 2006 - The Sketchbook Project began in Atlanta, GA 
• 2009 - It moved to New York City in 2009
• There were two Sketchbook options for how artists participated. These were:
• STANDARD — This book lives on the shelves of the library
• DIGITIZED — This book lives on the shelves of the library +
  photographed and added to the digital library
• Since then
• it grew into a worldwide community of more than 70,000 artists.
• over 50k sketchbooks created
• became the largest collection of artists' sketchbooks
• hundreds of thousands of sketchbook checkouts,
• sketchbooks have travelled thousands of miles
• 2022 - The physical space for the project in Brooklyn closed on February 25th
• 2022 - There was a fire on February 28th - during a move from Brooklyn to Florida -  which had a major impact on the sustainability of the project

Every sketchbook in the project / collection was identical and could be completed however people chose.

Your book comes with a six-digit B number on a sticker found on the back cover of your sketchbook that is unique to you! Each book has 16 pages. 32 back and front. Our books are made by our best buds at Scout Books.

This Frequently Asked Questions Page on the Brooklyn Library website explains how it worked.

Relevant links are:

• Website: https://www.sketchbookproject.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SketchbookProject
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesketchbookproject/

What's happening to the Sketchbook Project?

The Sketchbook Project is closing down. 

This was announced on 11th January 2023.

After 17 years, hundreds of thousands of book checkouts, over 50k sketchbooks created, thousands of miles traveled, we are closing the project We have decided to fully shut down The Sketchbook Project and Brooklyn Art Library non-profit and gift the collection to other amazing institutions that can better care for the books.

Why is it closing?

Unfortunately the organization is no longer sustainable and we are not able to care for the books as they should be cared for long term. We are working hard to find partner institutions that can house the collection for many years to come.

The intention is to find other institutions which have space for and are capable of looking after the collection - and each will get part of the collection.

Then there was the fire......

What about the fire?

One of the things that has triggered this decision is the fire while the books were being transported from Brooklyn to Florida.

A Tragic Update to the Sketchbook Project Community spells out what happened

On Monday, February 28th, the moving trailer that was transporting the entire Sketchbook Project collection from Brooklyn to St. Pete caught fire while driving through Baltimore. 

The Sketchbook Project Fire

So what happened:

• around 70% of the The Sketchbook Project collection was saved by volunteers and firefighters
• around 7,000 books in the collection have been lost
• the majority of the unharmed books arrived in St Pete today are safe and sound.
• the digitisation equipment and other resources used to support the collection were all lost.

You can search here to find out whether your sketchbook survived the fire.

What about the Digital Library?

The Digital Library is the virtual extension of the Brooklyn Art Library and contains over 25,000 complete scanned contributions to The Sketchbook Project.

We are seeking a digital partner to help maintain the digital library for years to come. As of now, it will remain up. It will not be monitored or worked on until we have a partner, so it is possible for it to go down for some time, or to shut down completely. 

You can find the Digital Library at https://www.sketchbookproject.com/library

How to get your sketchbook back

A streamlined way to get your sketchbook back - if it still exists - has been set up. 

You need to read and REQUEST BOOK HERE: http://www.brooklynartlibrary.org/bookreturn

You will have until February 10th, 2023 to request your book(s) back. We are asking for a $15 dollar fee that will cover shipping, materials and the time to get the book back to you. After February 10th, your book will be sent to a partner organization to live on with other parts of the collection and you will not be able to get it back. Any excess funds will go towards helping the partner organizations get set up.

However you have to bear in mind just one member of staff is dealing with all such requests.