Audio Recorders to Zucchini Seeds

Finished June 20

Audio Recorders to Zucchini Seeds: Building a Library of Things edited by Mark Robinson and Lindley Shedd

The authors have solicited input from libraries around the world, of all types and gathered the information here to show you some of the things other than books that libraries lend out to their communities.The book starts with a history of library lending discussing some of the earlier types of things such as curriculum materials, tools, toys and games, a/v equipment, and more. It then moves to a closer look at public libraries and what kinds of things some of them lend. Each example here looks at the history of that particular collection, the community involvement in the collection creation and maintenance, the funding for the collection including the ongoing budget, any special equipment involved, and the management and maintenance of the collection. There are seven collections covered here: Tool Lending; Book a Bike; Library Farm; Seed Libraries; Toys; and Sacramento's multifaceted "Create, Share, Play".

The next section looks at the lending of non-traditional things in academic libraries, again looking at the different aspects of each collection. Here are: technology items such as GoPros and microphones; curriculum material; cameras, tripods, external harddrives and other technology; video production tools; lendable tech like ereaders, calculators, Raspberry Pis and Arduinos; games, both tabletop and video; and scopes and instruments. 

The following section, looking at a special library that offers more esoteric material: from Alaska we see a library that lends furs, skulls, and other animal mounts.

The last section of the book brings together best practices from all of these libraries. It covers: planning; funding; acquisition and purchasing; cataloguing and describing; processing; storage and shelving; circulation; policies and procedures; staff training; collection maintenance; advertising and outreach; and assessment. 

There is an appendix with some useful documents that you can adapt for your own purposes, such as checklists, forms and agreements.

A good overview of this unique area of librarianship.