Borrow items from the library: See what's in your local Library of Things

For the past five years, Robert and Patty Aliperti of Sayville have borrowed ad infinitum from their local library — a metal detector, a Spero ball robot, a check engine scanner, a telescope, a “congratulations” sign and learning games for their two young daughters.

Checking out the “Library of Things” — a collection of all sorts of items — has turned into a routine for the Alipertis.

“It kind of grew over time to be this nice, weekly thing,” Robert Aliperti, 42, an IT tech, says of their trips to the Sayville Library. “Instead of spending money shopping, this is definitely more engaging."

Dozens of Long Island libraries have launched a Library of Things in the past few years, a trend transforming yesteryear’s bookish buildings into what some see as “public service” centers. These Liibraries  of Things help patrons save money, try before they buy and have fun, fans say. Why purchase something that costs hundreds of dollars and takes up space — just to use it once? 

“In ancient times, books were very expensive and owning them communally made sense,” says  Irene Winkler, the assistant director of the Levittown Public Library, which has about 50 items under its Library of Things. “That’s true for some of the expensive items that people can’t afford to buy and use once so that it’s wasteful.”

WHAT YOU'LL DISCOVER

The types of items available can fill a book, from virtual reality headsets and tools to a 6-foot table and chairs.

There’s also cutting-edge technology. For example, Longwood Public Library has PlantWave, which turns a plant’s biorhythms into music, and a 3D drawing pen, from which filaments flow out and harden to create designs. 

High-tech equipment is some of the most expensive in collections — Smithtown Public Library bought four Meta Quest virtual reality headsets at $540 each — but they fulfill libraries’ mission of learning.

“It’s nice to expose people to something that maybe they never heard of or never imagined they might be interested in,” says library director Lisa Jacobs at Longwood, which accumulated about 275 items since starting its program in six years ago.

Common themes pop up in what libraries buy. Party items are a hit, such as games, bubble-making machines and cake pans with animal or cartoon characters. New tech transforms old with scanners digitizing VHS video or DVD players that plug into televisions. Crafty pursuits dominate also, covering knitting looms and hot press machines that imprint homemade designs onto mugs.

Children’s education accounts for a good percentage of items, including many robots to learn coding.

In Sayville, the library has a coin sorter because most banks no longer have coin counters,  says Morgan Tamburro, head of patron services.

“It’s something you can’t see yourself investing in,” the librarian says.

Sayville had the right stuff in June for resident Kerriann Hernandez, 33, who wanted to make her Corgi Quillan’s 14th birthday memorable by renting lawn letters saying “Happy Birthday.”

“I looked at one company — I said I can’t afford $200 for my dog,”  says the preschool teacher.

When people kept telling her to go to Sayville Library, she was surprised, but ended up borrowing lawn letters for free.

Each library lets only its cardholders take advantage of the service.

Rules differ on borrowing periods, usually one to two weeks, and on late fees, with some charging nothing and others a maximum of $10. In most cases, users who wreck or never return items are billed on their library cards and banned from borrowing until they pay. Several libraries ask patrons to sign contracts that outline their responsibilities and waive actions against the libraries for any damages.

HOT SPOT

Perhaps what’s most in demand at libraries is the mobile hot spot device, taken out by vacationers  and families that don't have Wi-Fi access, librarians say.

Port Washington Public Library’s 10 hot spot devices were critical during the pandemic for students who needed them for school online classes. 

“Libraries have to stay relevant, especially with e-books and things online and less people coming in for reference purposes,” says Jackie Gordon, its head of circulation. 

Now that the pandemic has eased, people want to have fun and turn for inspiration to the Library of Things, according to Elizabeth Malafi, the coordinator of adult programming at Middle Country Public Library in Centereach and Selden.

With more than 140 types of items, Middle Country’s collection contains some of the Island’s more unusual purchases: an air quality monitor, dog agility and training equipment, a metal stamping kit and the Orba, a new, electronic musical instrument that teenage patrons tested at the manufacturer’s request.

“Our librarians come up with good ideas so we try a lot of new, quirky things and they work,” Malafi says.

A COLLECTIVE EFFORT

To some, the therapy dog at Port Washington is just a stuffed animal, but to Rachel Fox’s mother, the dog is a housemate who responds to her by barking, walking and inviting petting with its cuteness. “My mother seems to know it’s not real, but she loves that dog,” says Fox, who’s the director of children services and leads a caregivers’ group at the library.

She's is happy her mother is happy and got the library to buy a stuffed therapy dog to loan out. An employee of an assisted living facility regularly took it out for her older patients, Fox recalls.

Stories of how the Library of Things have and can change lives abound.

Whether it’s a ukulele or a toy robot, employees become semi-experts on items in their collections and rely on each other’s strengths to answer borrowers’ questions.

At the Elmont Memorial Library, the staff curates movie bundles to provide the full experience by putting together themes, free popcorn and candy and sometimes games, says library director Jean Simpson.

“With inflation and prices going up, it’s very difficult to be paying for all these things,” she says.

Recently, Tamburro and fellow staffers at Sayville researched forms of dementia to create memory kits that could help seniors retain cognitive skills longer and hark back to happy times. Some kits focus on themes, such as pets, or showcase a certain decade through toys, books, music and a lot of photos.

These collections have helped sustain libraries as they strive for the planet’s sustainability.

“It’s another brilliant way to get more people into the library and utilizing their services,” Hernandez says. “Maybe they might even pick up a book or two.”