[Michlib-l] Non-traditional collections compilation

[Debbie Johnson]

Thank you for all of the interesting responses to my recent request for information about non-traditional library collections. The responses are listed below. 

Debbie Johnson 
Saline District Library 

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Hot spots are very popular (Rochester Hills) 

Our Children's Room checks out toys, puzzles, puppets, kits, etc. Adult collection checks out art prints, a microscope, some kind of battery meter, and that's what I can remember. We are looking toward creating a library of things in the future. Cookware, tools, etc. (Peter White Library) 

We’re starting a seed library at our branch in Yale. This will be our first year, but we’re looking forward to it. We have 11 branches in our system and another one will also be participating. They currently have a wonderful garden in back of their library as an outreach, and it’s been very successful in their community. (Yale Library) 

You might want to check with the Grosse Pointe Public Library. For years they loaned out tools. 

We have been considering doing non-traditional collections, too, so I'd be very interested in the responses you receive. I'm thinking cookie cutters? (Three Oaks Township Public Library) 

Ann Arbor has a huge non-traditional collection. We have home tools like the energy auditing devices, thermal leak detectors, etc. Art tools like spinning wheels, sewing machines, drawing tablets to used with computers, etc. Science tools like specimen kits for prehistoric animals, bugs, as well as ones for parts of the human body, plus microscopes, telescopes, and other things. Our music tools mostly consist of electronic and more unusual instruments as well as guitar pedals. Finally, we have an outdoor games collection with large format games such as giant jenga, giant connect four, giant chess, etc. (Ann Arbor District Library) 

We circulate nontraditional items in the youth and adult department. Here is a link to the unusual things that we circulate: http://www.highland.lib.mi.us/awesome.htm . So far, they are all circulating well. We have had a few pieces lost in the snap circuits but, thankfully, replacements can be purchased at a reasonable price. The Lego Read & Retell kits have had issues with pieces being lost or put back in the wrong kit. We do have to check them each time they come back to make sure pieces are there. (Highland Township Public Library) 

The adult department at Oxford Public Library circulates jigsaw puzzles which are very popular. These puzzles are funded completely by donations. We put the puzzles out one at a time on a “puzzle table” where patrons can work on them (also very popular!). Once the puzzle is completed we can see if it’s missing pieces and if it’s in a condition to add to our collection. We’re going into our fourth year with this collection and have so many puzzles that we rotate the collection seasonally. We don’t count puzzle pieces at check-in and rely on our patrons to tell us if pieces are missing. Puzzles with pieces missing are discarded which keeps it a self-weeding collection. Another collection we have is cake pans. Not as popular but low cost (again mainly donations). We label and tag the cake pan instructions for check out. We initially included the search term “random stuff” for the cake pans and eventually we would like to have a larger random stuff collection including lawn games and craft tools. 

The Charlevoix Public Library lends snowshoes. We have youth, men and women sizes. 10 pair available. They are checked out all the time there is snow on the ground. 


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