— by Matt Golec

9/28/23

HANOVER AND LEBANON, NH; NORWICH, VT

If you wander through Hanover’s Howe Library, you’ll find books and magazines. You’ll find music on CDs and movies on DVDs.

But in the Howe’s Library of Things collection, you’ll also find a ukulele. Birding binoculars. A USB microphone. A disc golf set. Framed art. And puzzles — lots and lots of jigsaw puzzles.

“These are very popular,” said Jared Jenisch, an adult services librarian at the Howe. “Not so much in the summer, but as we head into winter, they start disappearing.”

Around the country, libraries are lending items far outside the ‘books and movies’ box, and Upper Valley towns such as Hanover, Norwich, and Lebanon are part of this growing trend.

“I'd say it's become a lot more common in the last ten years or so as libraries expand their sense of what they can do for their communities,” Jenisch said.

Last year, the Howe’s Library of Things collection expanded from a handful of items to become a much larger collection. It’s still a bit of an experiment, Jenisch admits.

“We purchased a number of things that we thought would be useful, recreational, inspiring, educational,” he said. “And then we'll wait and we'll see which travels and which doesn’t.”

While it’s too early to say which items—besides the puzzles—get used the most, some items do get returned with interesting stories. Like the outdoor movie projector that lit up a backyard with children’s movies this summer. Or the knife sharpener someone checked out to sharpen all of their father’s knives as a Father’s Day gift. And the trail camera that had one patron buzzing about all the creatures they’d been able to record.

“They saw several creatures nose up to the camera,” said Jenisch. “So they had a really good time with it, which is exactly what we're hoping for.”

Jenisch himself has checked out the turntable, which got his teenage daughters excited about LPs. Next thing he knew, they were buying old Joan Baez albums.

Jared Jenisch stands by the jigsaw puzzles at the Howe Library. Photos by Matt Golec.

The Howe also has a collection of 117 framed, full-size art prints that can be checked out. Recently, a group of Dartmouth College graduate students came in to get library cards, excited to borrow things for their apartment walls.

“A lot of people move through this town, and this is a really nice way for them to be able to decorate their place without having to hit a poster store,” Jenisch said.

Across the river at the Norwich Public Library, the former periodicals room has been transformed into a Library of Things. It started as the CookNook, with cooking supplies and cookbooks, before expanding into other items such as sports equipment, toys, games, and puzzles.

“A library is about reading, but it's also about bringing experiences to people,” said Lisa Milchman, assistant director at the Norwich Library. “And there are so many different ways we can serve that need.”

The spiralizer, which cuts vegetables into fancy shapes, is popular enough that it wore out and had to be replaced. The tortilla press and jigsaw puzzles see a lot of action. But it’s the American Girl dolls, and especially a well-loved horse accessory, that set Milchman laughing.

“A kid one day went riding it like a hobby horse! That was the best,” she said.