Ethically-Sourced Book Cover Art Pieces

My projects are made entirely out of upcycled material taken directly from print books, not scans or copies. How can I do such a thing to a book?

Every book reaches the end of its life, and mass-market paperbacks are especially prone to catastrophic damage. Even normal wear-and-tear, accumulated over decades, can render a book unfit for the purpose even of reading, let alone collecting or display.

When a book is too damaged to read, I recycle the text block in Minneapolis’s paper recycling program, and I save the cover art for future projects.

Sometimes, though, even a sound book may be at the end of its useful life if it isn’t able to find a reader. Books taken to Goodwill or Half-Price Books will also end up being pulped if they do not sell—and most don’t. Even books in Little Free Libraries are unlikely to find a forever home if they could not sell at a bookstore. If a book in my inventory is never going to sell, I will recycle it as though it were damaged, and I will also reuse the covert art.