An altered book artist takes a book (old, new, recycled or multiple) and modifies it in any of various ways, such as cutting, tearing or folding, or embedding objects.
Altered books are shown and sold in art galleries and on the Internet.
An exhibition of altered books by contemporary artists was shown at the Bellevue Arts Museum in 2009, titled The Book Borrowers.
[2] The John Michael Kohler Arts Center was to host an exhibition of altered books in early 2010.
An interesting example of sculpture-like altered books can be found in the mysterious paper sculptures left in various cultural institutions in Scotland, such as the Scottish Poetry Library and the National Library of Scotland.