Vincent Van Gogh’s 1890 painting “Green Wheat Fields, Auvers” is worth millions. You can hang a framed replica of the painting or other famous works in your home for free, thanks to a new Howard County Library program. Photo courtesy NGA/Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

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It’s no longer just books for books’ sake in the Howard County Library System (HCLS). Its Central Branch in Columbia now loans out reproductions of famous works of art and more.

Some 300 pieces of framed artwork are available now to library card holders. The pieces, except for photographs, are all reproductions. They include works of such international masters as Picasso, Cézanne, Van Gogh, Vermeer, Frida Kahlo and Mark Rothko.

Local artists’ work is also available, including that of late photographer Donald Reichie, who lived in Columbia and whose works, donated to the library by his family, document historic buildings and landscapes throughout the county and state.

The new program, dubbed the Art Education Collection, began in late March and is now “an integral part” of the county’s library system, according to Tonya Kennon, HCLS president and CEO.

“This initiative seeks to enhance lives and reduce barriers in access to the arts while increasing educational opportunities,” Kennon said. “Neurobiological studies have demonstrated the immediate positive impact associated with viewing art.”

Which could mean, among other things, that county library members who are feeling low could boost their spirits, along with their appreciation of the art works and photographs now available.

Kennon said that up to two art pieces can be borrowed for up to four weeks. Borrowers will also be provided with information about the artist and the artwork, along with a list of questions “to expand learning and inspire discussion” on the piece.

How it works

The collection on loan, nearly a third of which consists of works by local artists, can be viewed on the HCLS website (hclibrary.org) or in a catalogue at the Central Branch of the Columbia library, located at 10375 Little Patuxent Parkway.

The works are picked up at, and returned to, the Central Branch. All the borrower needs is a library card.

The art prints, wrapped in paper for the borrower, will be inspected just before being loaned out and just after being returned. Borrowers will have to pay a “replacement cost” if the work or its frame is damaged while on loan.

Both local and international works will be added over time to the collection, which will also include sculpture pieces “in the future,” Kennon said.

“We welcome input from our customers who may suggest artists and works for inclusion in the collection via our website,” she said.

The library system is also exploring the possibility of commissioning local artists to create original works to be added to the collection, Kennon added.

In a related move, this summer, the county library’s Miller Branch in Ellicott City will move into the art world by hosting an artist-in-residence program, during which library visitors may watch artists at work, participate in collective art projects and take art classes.

Much to like

One of the program’s first participants was Ellicott City resident Ellen Flynn Giles, who borrowed a print of a watercolor by Columbia-based artist Joan Lok.

Giles, 68, a former member of the Howard County Board of Education, said the landscape scene of mountains and trees especially appealed to her for both aesthetic and personal reasons.

Besides the lovely colors and composition, “the red buds on the trees look like cherry blossoms, and it’s now that season,” Giles said. “And the landscaping is reminiscent of the Tidal Basin.”

“It’s a very restful, peaceful work of art that is taking me into spring,” she said. Looking up from her desk at the print mounted on a wall in her sun room, is “like bringing the outdoors in.”

Giles added, “A work of art tells a million stories — the original one of what the artist sees and the stories that all the others see in the work.”

Borrowed art is in vogue

Visual art lending has become a recent trend for public libraries. Now, libraries around the country have set lending policies on multiple items.

U.S. News & World Report noted that among other articles that a library card holder may now check out are binoculars, board games, cake pans, sewing machines, metal detectors, microscopes, tools, ukuleles and computer tablets/Kindles.

Museums and nonprofits have joined public libraries as lenders of art work, according to Hyperallergic, an online art site, which noted that “these institutions share certain goals, like reaching new audiences and creating new spaces for local creative discourse.”

The “art lending libraries,” the article said, could signal “an innovation in art sharing that could, just maybe, help democratize an activity that was once considered inaccessible” to ordinary folks.