The Tuscaloosa Public Library hosted the TPL Book-Spraying Program this weekend to show that sprayed-edge books aren’t just for collectors and special editions anymore.
Sprayed-edge books are novels that have the edges of the pages painted with colors and designs.
Library staff took advantage of the cooling Alabama weather, setting up shop outside and breaking out the seasonal colored spray paint to show book lovers how to do it themselves. This free event was the creation of librarian Mary Buntin, who was inspired by special-edition books that were coming into the library. She said she also saw these books in the background of TikTok videos.
Sprayed-edge is a modern term for an old practice. Decorating the edges of a book can be traced back centuries, when it was called fore-edge painting. Today, books with colorful edges can be bought off shelves or specially ordered in book subscription boxes, although how “special” they are is debated among book lovers.
“Books started coming in, painted on the edges, and we became obsessed,” Buntin said. She first noticed the trend on social media. “There’d be TikToks, and then there would be all these sprayed-edge books, and you see them in the background of the videos.”
That was when Buntin knew they could do something with this concept locally.
One book in particular played a part in Buntin’s creation of the event. Rebecca Yarros’s adult high fantasy novel “Fourth Wing” was published with its edges sprayed in gold and decorated with the black outlines of dragons.
“We have a sprayed-edge ‘Fourth Wing’ in the library, and we were so certain that people would check it out and not return it. But that didn’t happen. I think we still have it in circulation,” Buntin said.
The library provided all of the supplies, books to practice on and a table stacked with seasonally flavored snacks and pastries. Snacking was encouraged as library staff walked participants through the steps of spraying their books’ edges.
This event was the first of its kind for the Tuscaloosa Public Library. The library’s adult services manager, Yvette Joyner, said that the plan was to see how many people signed up, and if there was public interest the library would consider doing it once every three months.
One of the attendants was UA alum Serena Bailey, who became aware of the event through the library’s website.
“I logged in to renew my library card and I saw it on the website, and I’ve been meaning to learn how to do this for a year and a half,” Bailey said, showing off the new sprayed edges of her books.
Surveying the people decorating their books on the library’s lawn, Buntin said she considered the event a success.
“We originally had more, and some other people had signed up, but they ended up having to cancel. It’s really hard in the fall in Tuscaloosa … So, it’s tricky,” Buntin said, noting the large number of events that occur in the city during the season.
Details on the Tuscaloosa Public Library’s future events, such as local author book signings and monthly trivia nights, can be found on the library’s website.
