The primary stock-in-trade of a library is right there in the name, derived from the Latin for book. And as the folks at my branch can attest, I’m a steady patron for that commodity, of late focused on the works of the creator of “Slow Horses,” Mick Herron.
But the Nashville Public Library stretches beyond the traditional book-lending function, with programs offering access to community assets like the Country Music Hall of Fame and Cheekwood, pedal-assist bicycles, computers and more. One of the most popular is the Art Lending Library, offered in partnership with Metro Arts.
“It’s a collection of original artworks (not prints – actual art) that patrons can check out and take out for up to three months,” library spokesman Ed Brown, says. “We launched it in July 2021, and it’s still circulating very well. Of the 57 pieces in the collection, all but nine are currently checked out.”
Now the list of items for borrowing is even more expansive, with the recent introduction of the Library of Things. I commend whoever thought of that name. Library of Stuff might have been another possibility.
“The Library of Things features an array of useful items – including activities and games, health and fitness equipment, tools and electronics, food and party items, crafts and hobbies, and musical instruments – that you can borrow for free for up to three weeks,” the library website advises.
Among the tools on offer are indoor air-quality monitors, radon detectors, electric air pumps and crescent wrenches. The food and party category has ice cream makers and cake pans. Under health and fitness, kettlebells and pedometers. For crafts and hobbies, sewing machines and engravers.
Of course, there are musical instruments – this is, after all, Music City – among which are ukuleles, electric keyboards, xylophones and bongos.
And that’s just a brief sampling of what’s available. You can check out the complete list on the library’s website, and many people obviously have: As I write this, 126 people are on the waitlist for an air quality monitor. Fifteen are in line for one of the 26 ukuleles.
I asked Brown how the program came about.
“Like many other libraries, we felt that our mission was well-suited to ‘sharing’ items that might be only occasionally used or needed to be tried before buying,” he said. “It also supported the ‘sharing economy’ and the city’s sustainability efforts – patrons sharing items means less waste.”
So they got in touch with libraries that have similar programs in California, Maryland, Massachusetts and Colorado to ask what did and didn’t work well for them. The result is – the Things.
As you may be aware, the Nashville library does not assess fines for overdue books, charging only when an item is lost or damaged beyond repair.
“Those same criteria apply to this collection,” Brown says. “The only other stipulation is that we ask of patrons that they clean the materials from the Library of Things – especially bakeware, kitchenware and exercise equipment – before returning them.”
You’d think that would be understood, but maybe experience has taught libraries otherwise.
The initial cost for the program, $10,000, was supplied by the nonprofit Nashville Public Library Foundation. Brown says it’s expected that the continuing cost will be $5,000 to $7,000 annually, as the library buys additional or new Things to meet consumer demand.
“For example, we have already had to order more radon detectors and air-quality meters,” Brown said.
I wouldn’t have guessed those would be such crowd-pleasers, but what do I know? Maybe radon detection is all the latest fad.
I also wondered why guitars and banjos aren’t among the musical instruments on hand, and figured that price might have been the problem. I was partly right.
“We have a list of selection criteria that help us determine what gets added to the collection and, yes, price is one of them (nothing priced over $75),” Brown says. “We also don’t want to add items that are too large to easily transport through delivery or items that are too fragile.”
Too bad, because I’d hoped to check out a guitar. A different one’s bound to sound much better than mine. Right?
Joe Rogers is a former writer for The Tennessean and editor for The New York Times. He is retired and living in Nashville.