Remember coloring when you were a kid? Now it is a new craze for adults.
Adults caught up in the craze have new and more ways to participate: through libraries, book stores and meetup groups.
The popularity of coloring is evident when you walk into any bookstore, many of which have coloring books prominently displayed. This month coloring books took up the top 10 spots on the New York Times best-selling list of games and activities, up from nine in December.
Laura Naeyaert, manager of Book World at 134 S. Main St. in Shawano, said the adult coloring books started coming in last summer and are selling like crazy. Prices start at $5.99.
“People are finding it relaxing,” she said. “It takes your mind off the stress of the world.”
Naeyaert said she is coloring, too.
“I just really enjoy it,” she said. “You forget how enjoyable it is.”
Customers have told her they have coffee, conversation and coloring sessions.
‘I haven’t talked to anyone yet who hasn’t enjoyed it,” Naeyaert said.
In response to the spike in interest, libraries across the country are holding adult coloring programs more and more, according to the American Library Association. There are also groups popping up through Meetup.com.
The Shawano City-County Library will have a coloring book session at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 22. Librarian Mikki Moesch said the program gives people the chance to do something they wouldn’t normally do.
“It seems like this is such a craze right now,” Moesch said.
The library purchased coloring books and supplies, so all the necessary items are free to those who come to color.
Moesch said it is relaxing and takes you back to your childhood.
“You can socialize and color,” she said. “We might look at doing it as a monthly thing.”
A Shawano artist has capitalized on the trend by publishing her first adult coloring book.
“I knew there was a market and I have a lot of photographs,” Wendy Goerl said. “I take about 1,000 pictures every year at the fair.”
Goerl’s coloring book has 40 pages of all different designs. For a copy of the book, email Goerl at wendygoerl@netscape.net. She is also working on her second book, which will be hand-drawn images.
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