A revamped ‘Library of Things’ receives a more prominent spot at Pendleton library
PENDLETON — “Is the rototiller available?”
Perhaps not a question one expects to hear posed to an employee at a library circulation desk.
But at Pendleton Community Public Library, that type of query has become a normal occurrence, as people are able to sign out a dirt turner and other items with the same ease — and at the same cost, free — as the latest page-turner.
“You don’t have to go out and buy something if you just need it for a quick project,” said Pendleton resident Andi Jones, who was at the library Friday asking about the tiller.
A program called the “Library of Things” offers patrons access to a wide range of items, from the old (a typewriter) to the new (photo scanner), and from the mundane (an extension cord) to the exciting (virtual reality headset).
The program is not new — it started several years ago — but it has received a shot in the arm thanks to the library’s recent $4.1 million remodel.
While a small part of the overall renovation, the Library of Things upgrade includes a new wall-length display case prominently located just inside the main entrance. The program name is also featured prominently near the top of the display.
Christine Bellessis, a reference librarian, said the changes have made the program more popular, so much so that it might be difficult for a reporter to take photos of some of the more popular items, such as the VR headset and Cricut machine.
“Things are gone from (the case) so often,” she said.
That’s not a bad thing, of course — it’s the whole point. It’s what she envisioned for Pendleton about five years ago when visiting the Tool Lending Library at Berkeley Public Library in Berkeley, California.
“It’s perfect,” she recalled thinking when she saw the facility. “I asked them a bunch of questions.”
Bellessis said the Pendleton program started a couple of years after that, using tools the library owned but no longer needed after contracting out maintenance services.
The library established a budget for the program — now $3,000 per year for purchases, repairs and replacement — and began purchasing items based on patron surveys and suggestions. There are now dozens of things (see listing at bottom) that can be signed out.
“A library’s role is to provide, for free, services to the community,” she said. “It was a dream and it became realized.”
Scott Andersen, a Pendleton resident, business owner and library patron, said he likes the service, which he has used several times.
“It’s been a nice asset here since we lost our hardware store a number of years ago, and with that we lost all the rental equipment that they used to carry,” he said.
He said he’s borrowed the pressure washer about half a dozen times the past few years to do things such as spray down shelving at his pet supply business, Seedy Sally’s. He said at home he generally has the tools he needs, but that for others, such as new homeowners, the prospect of being able to borrow an item for a small, occasional task is probably valuable.
“I thought it was a very original idea,” he said. “It surprised me at first that a library would have things like that. I thought it was something unique for the library to offer to the community.”
In addition to borrowing books and items from the Library of Things, he said he also uses the computers at the library.
“It’s a very nice library for this small town,” he said. “I’ve seen libraries in other small towns that aren’t nearly as nice as ours, and they don’t have as many of the various services to offer, either.”
Linda Lupton of Pendleton said she recently borrowed the Cricut machine to do some work on a quilt. She said she knew about the Library of Things but used it for the first time a couple of weeks ago because of the new display.
“I was aware of it, but I never thought they’d have anything that I’d use,” she said. “I thought it was just tools.”
When she saw the Cricut machine in the new glass case, “I thought, ‘Oh, I need that. I need to do something with that.’ … I used it to cut fabric for a quilt. It was a weird shape that I needed to cut. When you have an odd shape it’s kind of tricky to do.”
She also credited Bellessis for knowing how to use the machine.
“I gotta give a shout out to Chris, too, because I was having a little trouble, and I brought it in and she showed me what I had to do.”
Bellessis said the plan it to keep the Library of Things going, adding to it based on patron feedback. She said the goal is to purchase items people would use only once or twice per year or items people would want to try before purchasing.
The tiller might fit in the former category and the RoboVac the latter.
Jones, who was unable to pick up the tiller Friday because it was on hold for someone else, said she has borrowed things that fit both criteria.
She has borrowed the drill for a project, she said, and the ukulele, something as a guitar player she was curious about.
“I just fiddled with it for a little while and brought it back,” she said.
“I loved it. It’ll be a birthday present for me next year.”
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There are 63 items in the Library of Things, including:
Angle grinder
Bean bag toss
Board games
Cane
Croquet set
Electric drill
Electric hedge trimmer
Extension cord
Food dehydrator
Jigsaw
Juice extractor
Ladder 8-foot
Ladder 12- foot
Leaf blower
Metal detector
Mover’s dollies
Multi-purpose saw
Museum passes
Orbital sander
Pasta machine
Photo scanner
Pipe wrench
Portable lawn spreader
Post hole digger/auger
Power washer
Projector
Pruners
Record player with CD recorder
RoboVac
Rubber stamps and ink kits
Safety goggles
Sewing machine
Slow cooker
Tiller/cultivator
TV antenna
Two-in-one reciprocating saw/jigsaw
Typewriter
Ukulele
Virtual reality headset
Wheelbarrow
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