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March 2024 | Volume XLII, Issue 1 »

Beyond Books: Exploring the Library of Things Movement

March 1, 2024
Lynette Bromiel, Naperville Public Library & Alex Towers, The Joseph Sears School, Kenilworth

When picturing a library’s collection, it would be natural to first think of books and electronic resources. Libraries do excel in curating, maintaining, and circulating excellent print and digital book, audiobook, periodical, and database collections. However, as librarians from both the Orland Park Public Library (OPPL) and the Normal Public Library (NPL) highlighted in their presentation “Here’s the Thing: Building and Circulating Your Library of Stuff” at the 2023 ILA Annual Conference, many libraries are now expanding their collections to embrace the “Library of Things” movement.

Orland Park Public Library’s Adult Services Manager, Katie Allan, views their “Library of Things” as a way to reach a broader base of patrons. Allan states, “By offering this unique lending service we are able to stretch library tax dollars further. We also saw that many of our patrons were having financial difficulties due to the pandemic, and we thought this would be a good way to give back to the community so they could still enjoy some simple pleasures in life without having to spend a lot of money.” Currently, OPPL’s “Library of Things” collection contains more than 110 unique items, including, in Allan’s words, “everything from a coin counter to a clothes steamer!” Most popular are their circulating tables and chairs, which patrons have checked out for a variety of uses, including garage sales, graduation parties, and bridal showers.

Jennifer Williams, Technical Services Manager at NPL, echoes the sentiment that by building these robust collections, libraries can support the unique needs of their patrons. Williams cites verbiage from their mission statement: “We are a valuable educational and recreational resource for our community,” and expands that “by offering items like hotspots, Chromebook kits, board games and sensory bags, we hope to use our Library of Things to live up to our mission.”

We wanted to see if other Illinois libraries had “Libraries of Things,” so throughout November 2023, we circulated a Google Form survey to members of ILA, RAILS, and IHLS, asking if libraries in the state had special circulating collections for the purposes of being in this article. Representatives of twenty-five libraries responded to the survey, and, happily, each one had a “Library of Things” (although not always by that name) for patron use. Each response revealed a variety of answers that reflect how libraries throughout the state serve the sector of their patron base who are interested in taking home things that one doesn’t typically associate with the traditional library image.

While many of the libraries who responded call their unique circulating collections “Libraries of Things,” this was not the case for each library. For example, the La Grange Public Library named their collection “Circulating Equipment” because, according to Digital Services Manager Chuck Johnson, “it’s the easiest to understand” for library patrons. Additionally, several libraries that mentioned they had “Libraries of Things” opted not to give their collections a  specific name, such as the Stinson Memorial Public Library District in the southern Illinois town of Anna, which uses the more general terms “equipment,” “gear,” and “kits.” Besides having “Libraries of Things,” other library representatives stated that their unique circulating collections were accompanied by similar collections, such as the Glencoe Public Library’s Takiff Art Book Collection.

When asked if the items in their “Libraries of Things” were the results of either a staff member, library committee, or patron request, the library representatives’ responses yielded a mix of answers. Many libraries listed one or more of these options, though there were a few outliers. The items entailing the “Library of Things” at the Princeton Public Library are the results of, in the words of Director Julie Wayland, “donations, requests, or a perceived demand” of a certain item. Some potential items in the Stinson Memorial Public Library District’s collection are made via partnership opportunities with local nonprofits as well as prior Project Next Generation (PNG) grant periods. And the Glencoe Public Library’s aforementioned Takiff Art Book Collection is the responsibility of one selector and is funded by a single Glencoe resident.

Orland Park Public Library's Hanging Tags

Most libraries said that the “things” in their unique collections have the ability to be checked out by anyone, but some had a few caveats when it came to who exactly can take something from a “Library of Things” home with them. The Litchfield Public Library’s “Library of Things” is not public and is only available if other libraries request to loan an item from the collection. At the La Grange Public Library, not only do you have to have to be a cardholder of that specific library to check out a specialty item, you also have to be over the age of 12. The Vespasian Warner Public Library District and C.E. Brehm Memorial Public Library, located in the towns of Clinton and Mount Vernon, respectively, take things a step further than the La Grange Public Library when it comes to age limits: you have to be a legal adult to check things out from their “Libraries of Things.”

Regarding the loan period for these items, the libraries who responded gave a variety of answers. Typically, loan periods for things other than books lasted no more than three weeks, though Joe Halter, IT Director of the Glen Ellyn Public Library, said that depending on the size of the project the patron intends to use the item for, the item won’t be back in the library until at least a month’s time. On the other end of the spectrum, the “Library of Things” at the Bement Public Library, which serves a town of 1,484 people not far from Champaign off Interstate 72, has a loan period of only three to five days. At the University of Illinois’ Springfield campus, the loan period for items in their “Library of Things” is one week, but Patron Services Supervisor Charity Ringel added that her library makes an exception for calculators and seasonal affective disorder (SAD) lamps, which can be checked out for an entire semester if necessary.

While these collections contain a myriad of unique items, there are certain items at each library that are exceptionally popular. These most popular items range from high-end technology equipment to baking equipment, depending on the collection. At Normal Public Library, individual mobile hotspots and Chromebook kits, each of which contains a mobile hotspot, can very rarely be found on the shelves, since these items generally have a long list of holds. In fact, over 25% of survey respondents identified mobile hotspots as the most popular item in their “Library of Things.” After mobile hotspots, streaming devices such as Rokus were mentioned as the next highest-in-demand items. However, a few libraries reported that items such as cake pans, sewing machines, or specialty toys were most popular with their patrons. At the Elizabeth Titus Memorial Library, whose collection contains items as varied as cake pans, sewing machines, disc golf discs, Memory Care Kits, STEAM Kits, and technology tools such as Spheros, Sphero minis, and Makebots, Director Michelle Nolen has noticed that their circulating American Girl dolls are most popular.

With such a range of “things,” cataloging and storage of these circulating items offers a unique challenge. The Normal Public Library’s “Library of Things,” is primarily composed of board games, but extends to technology toys, outdoor game items, crafting kits, a digital image scanner, and more. Not all items are cataloged in the same manner, and [items have] a combination of full records and brief records, depending on the item. Technical Services Manager Jennifer Williams says, “When we process we try to label everything with at least part of the call number or item  number, especially for kits and items that contain cords and small parts. We don’t label everything in our board  games, but we do create a contents list for these that are helpful when checking items in.”

For OPPL’s most popular items, copy cataloging is often an option, while more esoteric items require original cataloging. For patrons who would prefer to browse rather than search the library catalog, OPPL offers a wall display in their lobby; hanging tags let patrons know which of these items are available for checkout, while no tag indicates that another patron has the items but a hold may be placed. However, due to the size of their “Library of Things” collection, the majority of their items are stored behind the scenes in the Patron Services workroom.

As libraries’ “Library of Things” collections continue to grow, survey respondents have identified items they are most excited to add next; everything from fishing equipment to Ghost Hunting Kits are on the horizon. Responses from patrons keep staff motivated to continue providing the best collections possible, such as when an Orland Park Public Library’s first-ever borrower sent staff photographs of “treasure” he located using their metal detector. Katie Allan expressed that staff “[loves] hearing the stories of how our Things are being used by our patrons. It makes us proud that we have been able to offer so many unique pieces to patrons who perhaps just need to use it once, try it out before buying, or simply can’t afford it at this time. It is another way in which libraries are for everyone and everything!”