{"id":40570,"date":"2014-06-23T09:10:25","date_gmt":"2014-06-23T14:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=40570"},"modified":"2014-06-23T13:27:09","modified_gmt":"2014-06-23T18:27:09","slug":"they-lend-what-the-magical-world-of-unique-lending-libraries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=40570","title":{"rendered":"They Lend What??? The Magical World of Unique Lending Libraries"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Sandra Hoyer, former Head Editor, INALJ Washington<\/a>
\n<\/a>previously published 9\/26\/13<\/em><\/p>\n

They Lend What??? The Magical World of Unique Lending Libraries<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"sandra1\"<\/a>I have always been fascinated by unusual lending libraries and the spectacular items they have for users. I think libraries (whether private, public, academic or special) in general could truly benefit from taking an untraditional approach to lending what their users may need, whether that be therapy dogs or art.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are just a few exciting lending libraries that have caught my eyes over the years:<\/p>\n

Doggies for everyone!<\/b>\u00a0Yale Law School embarked in a three day pilot program in which Monty, the lovable terrier mix pooch, could be checked out in 30 minute increments. A catalog entry for Monty can be found here: Monty Yale Law School Catalog Record<\/a>. Personally, I think adding an adorable dog to the catalog for the benefit of stressed law school students is an excellent idea.<\/p>\n

Lending out a wheel, or two.<\/b>\u00a0While out on vacation in California earlier this month, I came across Cruz Skate Shop<\/a> in Berkeley which offers a roller skate wheel lending library to its patrons. This lending library is really great because it allows their customers to try out pricey wheels before they commit to any particular set.<\/p>\n

Tooltime!<\/b>\u00a0While doing research on unusual lending libraries, I came across the Oakland Public Library Tool Lending Library<\/a>. This lending library boasts over \u201c3,500 tools available for loan, as well as books and how-to videos and DVDs\u201d- \u00a0perfect for any homeowner or repair first-timer. The tool library is open to area residents of Oakland, Emeryville, and Piedmont on most days excepting Monday and Sunday.<\/p>\n

Vinyl records for that original sound.<\/b>\u00a0The Vinyl Library<\/a> in London, England allows its users to borrow from an \u201ceclectic mix of donated records.\u201d The whole aim of The Vinyl Library is to provide an inviting space where people can share music and their love for music face to face. <\/b><\/p>\n

A picture is worth a thousand words.<\/b>\u00a0Another unusual lending library can be found at the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College<\/a>. This college art museum allows its patrons (students and professors alike) to rent out one to two famous pieces of art each semester. Students and professors pay a nominal fee of $5.00 in order to host amazing pieces of art within their own residences. It\u2019s reported that this program is a response to the gallery\u2019s lack of space and has run successfully for over 60 years.<\/p>\n

And of course, seed libraries and Little Free Libraries:<\/b> Two lending libraries that have been hot on the radar lately are the much regaled seed libraries and little free libraries. Seed libraries have been popping up in many public libraries and allow patrons to share and exchange a variety of flower and plant seeds. You never know what you will find at a seed library- perhaps your next heirloom jewel. Little Free Libraries<\/a>, a community movement in large part, work on the principle that users can borrow a book while giving a book. This allows little free libraries to constantly provide different and varied reading opportunities to its users.<\/p>\n

What are some innovative lending libraries that you have come across? Help build this list by commenting down below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Sandra Hoyer, former Head Editor, INALJ Washington previously published 9\/26\/13 They Lend What??? The Magical World of Unique Lending Libraries I have always been fascinated by unusual lending libraries and the spectacular items they have for users. I think libraries (whether private, public, academic or special) in general could truly benefit from taking an…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":13400,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[69,3592,3656,5141,3966,4716,5382],"class_list":["post-40570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-inalj-washington","tag-little-free-library","tag-sandra-hoyer","tag-seed-library","tag-unique-libraries"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/sandra1.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-aym","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40570\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}