DENVER - For National Tattoo Day, librarians are recommending books, movies and music for every G-Rated tattoo posted on the Denver Public Library's Facebook page.
Along with a few people working remotely, a group of six librarians met Tuesday morning in the basement of the Park Hill Branch Library, each on a laptop working in a shared document.
For each tattoo posted, they made three recommendations.
"Most times when people get tattoos there's a whole lot of thought put into the process because obviously it's gonna be forever," said librarian Emily Peros. "So, it's a really good kind of reference interview, right off the bat."
This is the second year the Denver Public Library has done this.
Last year, they had nearly 300 responses.
"I think people all over love sharing stories about their tattoos," librarian Hana Zittel said. "I think it creates sort of like an online community around reading and culture and tattoos."
On Facebook, the library asks for a brief description and backstory for more symbolic tattoos to help librarians come up with better recommendations. And often the work requires research.
"I think it really speaks to what that person feels is the most important thing to them in their life or a moment that really symbolizes something that happened to them that was life-changing," said librarian Hana Zittel. "I also really like some of the quirky or fun ones."
A few of Zittel's favorites from last year include a tattoo of Casa Bonita and another she referred to as Piggy Stardust, a tribute to David Bowie.
"It kind of shows another side of folks," Zittel said. "They have like this quirky interest and they're willing to get something wacky and silly put on their body permanently."
They recommended books about Denver to the owner of the Casa Bonita tattoo and a picture biography of David Bowie for the Piggy Stardust tat.
All the recommendations are for materials in the Denver Public Library system. So far, all the feedback has been positive.
This year's recommendations were scheduled from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday, but the librarians expect the online conversations to linger for days.
