California: Sacramento Public Library is Formally Launching a “Library of Things” Today

From Capital Public Radio:

The range of things – other than books – that you can check out at Sacramento Public Libraries is expanding. This weekend the library system is launching its new Library of Things, intended to help push the library into the future.
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That budget is $10,000 – money from a federal grant the library got through the Library Services and Technology Act. Easterwood trusts that all these newly bought “things” will come back undamaged.
“There will be an agreement that people have to sign for some of the items, the more expensive ones,” says Easterwood. “And they’ll be expected to bring them back in the condition they found them, just as they would any other item.”
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“There’s a movement towards a lot of innovation and experimentation in libraries,” says Ken Haycock, a longtime library and information science educator with the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
“I think the issue is – how can we have more experiments and innovations that are still true to the mission of libraries? And that’s what you’re seeing in Sacramento,” said Haycock. “It needs to be girded in a distinct community need and a very strong assessment in terms of the benefit of a return on investment for community tax dollars.”

Read the Complete Article
Review Library of Things Website
Library of Things items are cataloged and available here. Search for “Library of Things”

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