Inspired by me learning that I can check out solar panels (hiking sized, not house sized) at the library.
My library has a banned book clubs for teenagers.
Books don’t get banned in my country, but they read and discuss books that are banned in other countries.
Also, you can check out a kill-a-watt to monitor your electricity consumption.
There’s been a big bump in board games at my library, which I love and I’ve donated to, and one by my sister’s place has a whole tool lending library. Seems super nice for folks that need a power drill once every few years.
That’s cool. What was your latest find?
We are going for board games all the time. My son is six and he loves them
Just found Survive (but the original 1982 one, not the reprint), which we’d played a bunch growing up, and it was perfect to play through a couple games of it for nostalgia’s sake without having to buy a game I wouldn’t actually play much at all beyond that.
Looks great, gameplay seems interesting and I guess it’s something for my 7yo son, too.
My library has something called discovery kits. They’re large bags with everything you would need to try out a specific activity. There’s all sorts of things, including metal detectors, sewing, astronomy, photography, microscopes, vacuums, anatomy, bike repair, circuits, and so many more. The thing I love about these is that they’re not just a few books about the topic, they really have everything you need. The photography kit has a camera, astronomy has a telescope, sewing has a sewing and embroidery machine, etc.
Original art (paintings and sculptures) by local artists. They csn be checked out for three months at a time. It’s really nice to have some original art in your home even if it it’s not by a big name.
Also, I can easily access most of my country’s important newspapers’ online articles that are normally behind a paywall.
Damn, renting out art? That’s actually pretty cool.
Passes to local museums, gardens, and attractions.
My library has really good access to online catalogs with ebooks, audiobooks, music, and movies. I rarely come across a fiction book I want to read that isn’t available, all without even having to go into the physical library.
“Lots of books” may not be the answer you were expecting, but the volume of media they have access to is truly notable compared to any other library system I’ve ever been a member of.
Tools, it’s really handy when I needed a thermal camera for a project and didn’t feel like spending hundreds for a tool that would get used once.
How is the renting process for those?
At least at my library, there’s basically just a separate form you have to sign to say that if you chop your hand off with a saw, you won’t hold them liable, and I think there are more strict limits on how long you can rent things, and what the penalties are for being late.
You don’t take it home, but my library has digitizing machines. You can digitize hundreds of old photos in minutes (it pulls them through and scans them like a deck of cards in a shuffling machine, so fast! And it is super sensitive so no/low risk of a photo jamming), and it can scan front and back at once, for those photos granny labeled on the back in her sweet cursive. You can digitize old home movies all the way back to those circular reel movies. All for free, as much as you want. The equipment is thousands of dollars and they just let me walk in and play with it. It’s incredible
That is super cool! I should see if I can do that at mine
That sounds so great. Do you know the device’s product name? Which library do you get this from? I’d like to try it out in my library.
I don’t want to dox myself publicly, but I’ll DM you a link to the page on my library’s site! They don’t have device names listed but there are descriptions of what they do and pictures of the devices so if you’re familiar maybe you can just figure it out?
A robot set for children. The robot is called Dash. It can be programmed with a tablet or laptop using special apps with a neat UI. We had one for two weeks and it was a lot of fun.
a metal detector and a bocce ball set
Can’t take it home, but I’m currently testing out the 3D printers at my local. They also have a 3D scanner.
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Theremin
When I was in college, I found a hand-bound report from the Department of the Treasury, written in 1939, about the financial situation in Nanking during the Japanese occupation. I was writing a report about the Rape of Nanking for a history class, and I stumbled upon it while searching the university library.
I was shocked that it wasn’t in their archives, and even more shocked that they let me check it out.
My local library system has tools, kitchen implements, a recording studio, musical instruments, stem kits for kids, video games, and art.
They need a better inventory system, though, cause all the non-book items are inventoried alongside the books. If you want to rent a shovel, you will see every book with “shovel” in the name before you see any actual shovels.
