Borrow More than Books at Your Local Library

At the local library, you can find books. You can also find a paper shredder and a label maker to tackle organizing projects. A karaoke machine to liven up a birthday party. A puppet theater with six adorable wild animal creatures to check out when grandkids visit. 

Welcome to the library of things. 

Games, outdoor gear and kitchen and household items might not be the items you think of when you think of a library, but libraries across the state are increasingly adding unusual and useful items to their catalogs. These library of things collections allow patrons to try out new products before buying their own, borrow tools they’ll only need a few times a year and pursue new hobbies. 

“What an amazing thing, right?” says Rachel Baker, president of the New Hampshire Library Association and director at Elkins Public Library in Canterbury. “Books inspire us to do all sorts of things, but it’s a pretty powerful thing to be able to say here’s an electric keyboard that may go to a household where a young child learns they love music. That’s a neat thing to be part of.”

Elkins’ expanded library of things, which  launches early 2026, includes a canning set, party tents, a record player and more. 

Library of things has grown significantly in New Hampshire in recent years. Libraries with these collections have their own policies that detail who can check out items and for how long. Now, with a public library card, you can check out a birdwatching kit (North Hampton Public Library), inflatable pool games (Exeter Public Library) and snowshoes (Brown Memorial Library). That’s in addition to accessing best-selling, new, and classic books, museum passes, storytimes, community events and more
at the library.

The Keene Public Library lends out a variety of equipment, including outdoor gear, telescopes, sewing machines, pruning saws and snowshoes. Photo Courtesy Keene Public Library

“It’s not just about books. It’s about shared resources and community and letting people know that, of course we’re here to encourage reading and literature, but we’re here to help you explore your interests,” says Molly Foye, library director at Freedom Public Library, where visitors can check out a metal detector, binoculars, snow shoes, a slide projector and more. 

Telescopes and metal detectors

Across the state, many libraries started their library of things collections with telescopes provided by the New Hampshire Astronomical Society. Through its library telescope program, the organization has been placing telescopes in libraries in New Hampshire and beyond since 2008. 

That’s how the Nashua program got its start, with both a telescope and a ukulele donation from a local music group. 

Recently, library patrons started asking for more items to check out, says Jennifer McCormack, library director. In September 2024, the library of things collection launched with 26 items. Today, the catalog features 51 items. 

“One of the most popular items in our lot collection is our cat. We have an animatronic cat. It’s our companion pet cat. It’s basically a toy cat. It purrs. It moves a little bit. It’s used with dementia patients,” McCormack says. “Many, many families have borrowed it. That’s something that’s a good example of using the library of things for a try before you buy.”

Sustainability is a big reason behind Nashua’s collection. 

“You’re sharing these items with your neighbor, other community members, rather than buying it and having it sit on the shelf and used once a year or less often,” McCormack says. 

At Maxfield Public Library in Loudon, the library of things collection started when patrons donated a metal detector and a pressure washer. The collection now consists of about 30 items, including a popcorn machine, a Yoto Mini audio player and a DVD player. 

“One of the great opportunities that (libraries of things) provide for patrons is if someone’s interested in raising chickens — we have an egg incubator for example — you could try it out with our machine at our library of things so you don’t have to invest the money yourself,” says Kersten Matera, library director. 

Derry Public Library has a fun story about how its unusual items collection started. 

At some point, a time capsule was buried at the library. The only issue? No one knows exactly where the time capsule is buried. So, the library team purchased a metal detector to find the time capsule. Ultimately, the location of the time capsule remains unknown, but the library staff decided to lend the metal detector to patrons, says Kathleen Kenny, library director. 

Even before Howe Library in Hanover began offering lawn games, electronic knife sharpeners and other “things,” it lent out art prints. Photo Courtesy Howe Library

Today, a metal detector is one of more than 20 items available to check out from the unusual items collection, including a pickleball set, a roll-up piano and a blood-pressure monitor. 

Why buy when you can borrow?

A focus of library of things collections are often tools that are used a few times a year, where patrons may prefer to check an item out of the library rather than pay for and store an item themselves. Examples from libraries around the state include stud finders, media digital converters, garden soil test kit, and a tree and weed puller, energy detectors and an auto code reader. 

Another popular theme in library of things collections is family fun activities – from giant versions of popular lawn games (Connect Four, Jenga and Candyland) to the popcorn machines, pop-up tents and cake pans that can spruce up a birthday, graduation, or retirement party. 

Howe Library in Hanover offers a mix of both categories. 

“You may not want to purchase an electronic knife sharpener; you surely want to sharpen your knives,” says Sam Milnes, adult services librarian at Howe Library. “That’s a popular one.”

So are the lawn games. 

“The giant Jenga set is very popular in the summer,” she says. “It’s always one I wish I could check out, and then it’s checked out.”

The library, in the same town as Dartmouth College, has also lent out one non-book item since before its library of things collection was created: art prints. 

For more than 30 years, the library has loaned framed art prints. Patrons can browse through two large wooden bins near the circulation desk, but they likely won’t see the full scope of the 100-print collection when they do so. At any given time, nearly all of the prints are on loan, Milnes says. Students at the local schools like to rent the prints out to decorate their dorm rooms, as do offices looking to spruce up their workplaces. 

Check out an e-bike 

New Hampshire is known for its outdoor recreation, and a library of things collection can help you access the nearby trail, river or campsite. 

At Lebanon Public Libraries, e-bikes are available to check out at the Kilton branch. Celeste Pfeiffer, outreach librarian, has stories of how the e-bikes have helped people in the area. Just this year, a library patron checked out an e-bike every day so that she could commute to her part-time job. Eventually, she purchased her own e-bike and increased her work hours, Pfeiffer says.

Making e-bikes available “so fits with our library’s mission, because it removes barriers and supports our community,” Pfeiffer says. 

Elkins Public Library in Canterbury plans
to expand its library of things offerings this year. Photo Courtesy Elkins Public Library

“All of the feedback shows that people really value the kind of program the library can provide,” Pfeiffer says. “We’re not just about books, we’re about experiences and tools of life.” 

When people see the bikes, they become a conversation starter about all that the library offers, from museum and state park passes to books and access to NYTimes Cooking and Comics Plus. 

Pfeiffer also used the e-bikes via the library after an injury made it difficult to cycle. Today, Pfeiffer commutes to work on an e-bike of her own. 

At Keene Public Library, visitors have access to a library of things, an outdoor gear library, and a garden tool library. Keene Public Library cardholders can borrow items from all three collections, and any Cheshire County resident who registers for a special card can check items from the outdoor gear library and the garden tool library. 

In addition to a battery-powered hand-seeder, a compost thermometer, pruning tools and more, the garden tool library also features adaptive Easi-Grip tools. 

Since February 2024, nearly 600 items have been checked out from the outdoor gear library. Offerings include fishing rods, coolers, personal flotation devices, tents, lanterns, sleeping bags and head lamps. Because Keene is a college town and also offers many outdoor recreational opportunities, many people in the area are renters who may not have the storage space for larger items themselves. When people learn about the items they can check out from the library, the reaction is positive, says Marti Fiske, library director.  

“They’re always excited by it. No matter how much advertising we try to put out, they’re like ‘oh, we didn’t know,’ ” Fiske says. 

She recently spoke at regional conferences about the behind-the-scenes work it takes to make the collections sustainable, from policies and storage, to marketing and software system needs. Her advice for anyone who wants to see a library of things collection at their local library? Bring it up with a librarian, she says. 

“Just ask and be curious,” she says.