by Sara Edmiston
Have you ever wanted to try out a new hobby but didn’t want to make the monetary investment in case you didn’t enjoy it? How about starting a garden – how far apart should you plant various seeds? Maybe you’ve always wanted to learn to play the ukulele or the drums. With the library’s Library of Things collection, you can do all of these things and more!
So, what is the Library of Things? It’s a collection of non-traditional library materials that we have available for circulation. Patrons with a library card who are aged 18+ can check out a variety of items for a two-week time period. Just like traditional library materials – books – patrons can reserve Library of Things items and have them sent to their library of choice for pickup. Items can also be renewed up to two times as long as no one has a hold on the item.
In our collection, there are five categories:
In the Arts & Crafts collection, we have items like a crochet hook set, jewelry pliers, and a needle felting kit. The most popular item in this collection is the knitting looms – our kit has four rectangular looms of different sizes and six circular looms of different sizes, plus the tools needed to utilize the looms and instructions.
Within the Games collection, we have a variety of board games that are classic and educational but not the typical games you normally see. We have classic games such as chess, checkers, backgammon, battleships, and Jenga. Other unique games include Books & Ladders, Unicorn Dominoes, and the very popular Llamanoes.
Health & Wellness include blood pressure monitors, anti-glare LED page magnifiers, and pulse oximeters.
Within Home Equipment/Tools, someone can find a rechargeable screwdriver, a 70-piece tool set, a bike repair kit, and a seeding square.
We have a Ukulele, drum pad kit, and metronome for our music lovers.
There’s a plethora of puzzles, from 100-piece Ravensburger Puzzles for children to 1000-piece puzzles of the worlds of Agatha Christie, Charles Dickens, and the Brontës.
And finally, within the recreation category, we have a pickleball paddle set, a portable Blu-Ray player, binoculars, and a telescope.
There’s truly something for everyone. So if one of your resolutions at the beginning of the year has been to find a new hobby, why not check out the Library of Things? For a complete list of all of the items available, check out our Library of Things website: https://www.adamslibrary.org/library-things
Sara Edmiston is Public Services Director of the Adams County Library System.