[Michlib-l] Library of Things ideas

Thu Sep 9 16:49:03 EDT 2021

I asked this question a while ago, and cannot remember if I posted the
responses.   If I did sorry to repeat the info, if not here goes.  At the
bottom of the responses is the list of items I ended up purchasing.

Hi Amy,

We're in the middle of ordering a wide range of items including a sewing
machine and a metal detector.  Our first items were GAMES, PUZZLES, and
some LED THERAPY LIGHTS (helpful with Seasonal Affective Disorder).  I'm
not sure of the check-outs on the lamps since we had to be closed some over
the winter months so people weren't in the building to discover them but
the games and puzzles have been HUGELY popular and we've expanded both
collections with more on order.  Our website has recently been revamped and
they don't have all the items posted on it yet so I can't send a link.

Brighton District Library has had a LoT for quite a while.  In case they
don't respond, here's a link to what they offer:
http://brightonlibrary.info/library-of-things/

I hope that this helps!

Hello Amy!

We started a Library of Things or (LoT) around 3 years ago. Our most
popular items are the hotspots, our second most popular is our STEAM kits.
We also have cake pans, Chromebooks, launchpads, and Aux cords in our LoT
collection. The first items we collected were the STEAM kits, we wrote a
grant for them through our local community foundation, next were the cake
pan then hotspots. We purchased those just before COVID, I was so
disappointed they were not ready and on the shelf by the time we had the
mandatory close notice. I am currently writing another grant to get 10
additional hotspots due to their extreme popularity. If you have any
questions feel free to contact me.

~Jamie

We have a large library of things which we call "Tools". We have art tools,
science tools, music tools, home tools, art prints, board games, large
outdoor games, and puzzles.

According to our "Top Tools" list (which I set to Top all time), the
telescopes, thermal cameras for the home, energy meters, air quality meters
for the home, metal detectors, sewing machines, Wacom drawing tablet, and
Giant Connect 4 have been the most popular. Our art prints are also very
popular, but it's harder to see as each individual art print has its own
stats instead of the group as a whole.

I believe art prints were the first things we started with. Then energy
meters from a partnership with DTE/Detroit Edison. Our major uptick in
buying tools started with our telescopes, which according to our records
were first cataloged in 2012, and I believe they were either a partnership
with U of Michigan or a grant-funded purchase, not sure which. Our board
games and puzzles are our newest editions - just this year, so those may
eventually surpass the popularity of the other things.

I'm just an acquisitions/cataloging clerk, so I may not know everything
about the tools collection, but those are some basics. We try to
purchase things that people might want to use but not own (like the energy
meters, indoor air quality meters, thermal leak detectors, etc.) as well
as things that are not already rented by area businesses. We don't want to
take business away from our local businesses, but rather provide
other things the patron may be looking for. For example - we don't lend out
clarinets or trumpets or drums as there are businesses who rent
those things in our area. But instead we lend out there minis, lighting for
performances, pedals for different effects with guitars and bass, pocket
pianos, ukeleles, amplifiers, otomatones, etc. Fun, different
music things that people may not get to experience otherwise. We have
specimen kits for things like bugs and dinosaurs; models of human body
parts/systems; birdcams; die cutters for crafting with. All kinds of stuff.
:) :) I love our Tools collections. :)

If you want more information, you might want to email Eli Neiburger, our
Deputy Director. He knows a lot about the collection. His email is
eli at aadl.org.

Manchester District Library.  Our Library of Things:  ( not counting Hot
Spots) these are our top checkouts

1- Intsta Pot

2- Kill-A-Watt Electricity Usage Meter

3- GardenMaster Dehydrator - seasonal checkouts

3-Juicer

4- bluray player

We started with a waffle maker, Binoculars, little things like that.
really did not circ.  We do not circ tools.  We have seasonal as well,
fishing poles, tackle boxes.   snow shoes, but they circulate slowly.

Hi Amy,

We have had our library of things for about two years. We have auto code
reader that checks out a lot. Our drone is very popular, but also very
prone to damage. We have a microscope and telescope that folks love. We
just put together a ghost busting kit and that has had a lot of interest.
It is a fun collection and our patrons are really using it.

Hello Amy, we are just starting. We have purchased a metal detector and it
is out for the first time. We will soon add a VHS to DVD converter. I have
heard that cake pans are popular.

Hi Amy,

While we don’t have an official Library of Things, the few non-library
materials that we lend out are:

·         Ukulele Kits (comes with the instrument, tuner, how-to book, cd,
& dvd) NOTE: The instruments were donated by Lansing Area Ukulele Group
AFTER we had them come and do a program. This kind of started us off.

·         Energy Monitor (this is particularly popular in the winter. It
allows patrons to take it home and plug it in to see how much energy
certain items in their home are using)

·         Star Projector (we purchased this for a program a few summers ago
and decided to rent it out after we were done using it)

·         STEAM Kits (these are extremely popular, but tricky, as we have
to make sure EVERYTHING is returned in the kit. This sometimes means
counting ALL the tiny pieces)

·         Launch Pads (we only have 4, but they contain educational games
for grades 1-5)

Hope some of these suggestions help.

 Here is the list of items I ended up purchasing:
Item
Tennsco Standard Steel Storage Cabinet, Non-Assembled, 72"H x 36" W x 18D",
Putty
Janome Red Universal Sewing Machine Tote Bag, canvas
Janome 2212 Sewing Machine Includes Exclusive Bonus Bumdle
Cannon PowerShot SX420 Digital Camera
Catch Phrase
18" Turkey Roasting Pan with lid
Sorry
Sausage Stuffer Horizontal Kitchen Machine
Don't Break the Ice Game
Mouse Trap Board Game
Professional quarter sheet bakng pans set of 2
Exploding Kittens card game
Berkley Trilene Big Game
Faberware Classic 2 quart double boiler
Jenga classic game
Bushnell Engage Hunting Laser Range finder
Fishing Single Tray Tackle Box - Pink
Scrabble deluxe editioln
Fishing Single Tray Tackle Box - Lime Green
Fishing Single Tray Tackle Box - Red
Fishing Single Tray Tackle Box - blue
Fishing Terminal Tackle
Non-Stick Bakeware Sets - 11 Piece
Imperia Pasta Maker Machine
Battleship Classic Board Game
Food Mill
Ravioli Maker Cutter Stap Mold
Regal Games Classic Card Games
Hasbro Gaming Taboo Party Board Tgame
Winning Moves Games  Classic Trouble Board Game
SWOOC Games- yard games
Yard Gmaes Scstter Number Block Tossing Game
Yard Games Kubb Premium Size Outdoor Tossing Game w/ case
LeapFrog Magic Adventure Globe
GhostHunting for Dummies
Jannome Black Universal Sewing Machine Tote, Canvas
Get Life Basics world globe with stand
The Everything Ghost Hunting Book
Spirit Box Ghost Hunting Kit with Sbox, EVP, EMF and Flashlight
Thames & Kosmos Simple Machines Science Eperiment & model Building Kit
Wilton T-Rex cake pan
Ferris Wheel Building Model with metal beams and screw lights and music
Wilton Ultimate Spiderman Cake Pan
Iron Commander STEM Jeejp building Toy Kit
STEM toys kids building toys 100 piece 8-in-1 DIY learning construction
Engino ENG_STEM902 Physics laws-inertia
Dinosaur Toys for 3 4 5 6 7 year old boys
Kidwill Solar Robot Kit for kids 14-1
Thames & Kosmos Structural Engineering: Bridges & Skyscrapers
AmScope 120X-1200X 52-pcs kids beginner microscope
Luck doug 12-in-1 STEM solar robot kit
Wilton Disney Frozen Elsa Cake Pan
Wilton Disney Mickey Mouse cake pan
Engino Discovering stem: Levers, linkages & Structures building kit
48 Pack Prepared Microscope slides collection
4m Magnet exploratoin from STEAM powered kids
50 things to see with a small telescope
STEM Engineering Toys: Dump truck building set with remote control
ESSLNB Telescipes for Adults kids astonomy beginners 80 mm
Bounty Hunter TK4 Tracker IV Metal detector
Thames & Kosmos Motors & Generators Multi
Engino Discovering STEM structures constuctions & Bridges
Engino Discovering STEM Newton's Laws intertia, momentum, kinetic
Wilton first birthday cake pan
QUICKVIEW CARRY CASE/TRNS 15IN DP BASE DV Item: 03238-2015
ARTBIN QUICK VIEW/TRNSLCNT CRRY CSE  Item: 03274-1010
QUICKVIEW CARRY CASE/TRNSLCNT 12IN  Item: 03238-1012
Zebco 33 - Rod & Reel Black
Zebco 33 - Rod & Reel Pink
Weston - V Slice Mandoline Slicer
Weston Pess-Fruits and Tomates
Eastman Outdoors Professional Dehydrator
Star Crafts 32 Qt Stock Pot w/ steamer
Camouflage Pop up hunting Blind 58"x58"x57" H
Zoo Kids Tiger fishing pole (30 in)
Dora and Friends Fishing pole
Sagaform BBQ  gloves and press
Weston French Fry Cutter and vegetable dicer
Bobbers red and white (2 pack)
Bobbers yellow and orange (2 pack)
Sea Choice yellow and red Model 86190  Youth Life jacket  55-88 lbs
Old Town Red Adult Life Jacket Chest size 30"-56", more than 90 lbs
Sea Choice yellow and blue Model 86190  Youth Life jacket  55-88 lbs
Stohlquist Youth Large/Adult XS Red Life Jacket Chest 28-33in, 75-125Lbs
Old Town Blue Adult Life Jacket Chest size 30"-56", more than 90 lbs
Onyx Adult Xtra Large green life jacket Weight >90 lbs., 40-48 in.

On Thu, Sep 9, 2021 at 4:25 PM bellairelibrary--- via Michlib-l <
michlib-l at mcls.org> wrote:

> Hi, library brain trust! We have come into some money recently and would
> like to spend it on creating a Library of Things. I am looking for
> practical ideas, not STEM, etc. as we already have a good STEM collection.
> I have ordered a mobile projector and a heavy-duty sewing machine but
> wondered what items others have in a similar collection. I am also
> gathering input from our patrons and staff, just looking for as many ideas
> as I can find! Thanks!
> --
> Cindi L. Place, MLIS
> Director, Bellaire Public Library
> bellairelibrary at torchlake.com
> 231-533-8814
> _______________________________________________
> Michlib-l mailing list
> Michlib-l at mcls.org
> https://mail3.mcls.org/mailman/listinfo/michlib-l
>

-- 
Amy Knepp, Director
Oscoda County Library

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