In 2015, Chilton Public Library started a Board Game collection. This collection helped support our board game evenings as well as offered the community access to hobby board games that were not yet mainstream.

 

From there the library expanded the Board Game collection into a Library of Things by adding a sewing machine and a serger (overlocker machine). And once we got started, the collection grew to include all categories of items.

 

A Library of Things is a collection of items for loan that expands the boundaries of traditionally defined library materials.

This collection supplements the library's approach to meeting the needs of our diverse and growing community and offers an opportunity to "try before you buy," to save money, and to test out something you might not have come across otherwise. The Library of Things aims to offer the physical tools needed to support lifelong learning and creativity, and provide new ways for kids and adults to interact and explore. The collection supports the library’s mission to "provide access to an expanding world of information to help meet the informational, recreational, cultural and educational needs of our users."

The Library of Things collection is funded through the library’s materials budget - just like books. For now, donations of "things" to the Library of Things collection are not being accepted.