NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. — Local public libraries all over the country are increasingly lending out nontraditional items ranging from cake pans, power tools, musical instruments, seeds, sports equipment and even sewing machines.
What You Need To Know
- Available items include tools, musical instruments, sewing machines and more
- Trend gained popularity during and post-pandemic
- All that is needed is a library card
- Checkouts popular with families, parents with home-schooled children
The growing movement is known as the “Library of Things” and aims to enrich residents’ lives in new and innovative ways. The Jessamine County Public Library has had a “Library of Things” for several years. Sarah Underwood, the marketing and public relations librarian at the Jessamine County Public Library, said the items are great for residents that need such things for short periods only or cannot afford to buy them.
“We've got several musical instruments, acoustic and electric guitars, banjos, ukuleles, and we even have guitar sized for kids,” Underwood said. “We have Chromebooks, which are really helpful as people have been navigating the pandemic. We have other things like that they may need something like hot spots with Wi-Fi, which is another really useful thing.”
A spokesman for the Urban Libraries Council, Curtis Rogers, said Library of Things collections serve the same goals as books.
“It’s to support lifelong learning, entrepreneurial thinking, creativity and skill-building for all community members,” he told local government news website routefifty.com.
Items for Jessamine County’s Library of Things can be checked out for three weeks with a Jessamine County or Fayette County library card the same as the traditional book, or movie.
“As long as no one else has requested the item, you can renew your checkout,” Underwood said. “We are always adding to our collection, too. We even have CD and DVD players that many people don’t have around much anymore. We have different tools and graphic calculators — it’s limitless. We have pretty much whatever you can think of.”
Underwood said one of the more popular items recently, which she believes is pandemic-related, is bird-watching kits.
“It’s a fun thing to do with kids,” she said about the bird-watching kits. “It has a little pair of binoculars and a book. We get many families checking out things that can be done as a family and parents of home-schooled children that are looking to add to their curricula. We just really want this to be a resource for the community and let people know it is here. You have to be able to try new things.”
Another often-requested item is the library’s sewing machine. Underwood said it was checked out when the library closed during the pandemic, and the woman who had it used her extra time with the machine to sew masks for friends and family members.
“I think because these items are not out on the shelves, people forget they are here,” Underwood said. “We are always trying to remind people that we have these things they can take home.”
The American Library Association credits the Library of Things’ rise in popularity to the maker movement — a rising interest among consumers to learn to create things, which libraries have embraced since at least 2015 with the addition of technologies such as 3D printers and laser cutters.
Items in the Jessamine County Library of Things can be reserved in-person or online. There is no charge for a library card.
Underwood said the name “Library of Things” comes from the fact it includes “things people can take home and use,” which she noted aligns with both the traditional and expanding goals of the library.
“It's a really cool service, and we are happy to be part of it,” she said. “I love that libraries are growing.”