Buying a Cricut machine, a printing press or the tools needed to bind a book can be expensive, especially when you do not know yet if that new hobby will really do for us. This is why the Brooklyn Public Library has created a collection of tools and kits that cardholders can borrow for free.
The Craft Supply Library was inaugurated on Wednesday 9 September in the Central Library of Brooklyn, within the new Art & Music Space on the second floor of the 10 Grand Army Plaza building. The initial collection includes 31 articles, including printing kits with linoleum blocks, silkscreen and binding, as well as hand embroidery tools, needle mixing and woodworking, according to Hyperallergic.
Among the single tools available are Cricut Maker machines, buttons making machines, manual A4 lever presses, yarn winders and thermal plasticizers. The library distinguishes between the “craft kits”, consisting of several tools designed to learn or complete an activity, and the “craft tools”, that is, individual equipment intended for specific use. The complete description of the collection is available on the official website of the Brooklyn Public Library.
However, the BPL does not provide consumables. If you borrow a kit you need to get yarns, wires, glue, paint, paper, buttons and everything that is used during the project. At the moment it is not possible to borrow sewing machines.
The 3D printers mentioned in some online descriptions are not part of the Craft Supply Library for adults at least for now. The BPL indicates a 3D printer in the Teen Tech Lab of the Central Library, a space reserved for children between the ages of 13 and 18.
The project was born from the initiative of Jess Harwick, a librarian of the BPL and passionate about manual work. As he told Gothamist, the idea came after purchasing tools and wool to try the needlefelt, discovering shortly after that activity did not do for her. Instead of leaving the unused material, Harwick thought it might be useful to someone else. The same tools are now available in the new collection.
The loan follows different rules depending on the type of article. Each person with a BPL adult card can take up to three kits and two tools simultaneously. Kits can be held for up to three weeks, while single tools must be returned within a week.
To get an article you need to look for it in the library’s online catalog and enter a booking request. Processing can take up to three days. When the kit is ready, the library alerts the holder by phone or e-mail and keeps it for seven days.
The withdrawal and return must be made in person at the Art & Music Space of the Central Library. Instruments cannot be returned to books boxes or other library sites. Before each loan it is necessary to sign a declaration of responsibility. When returning, the items must be cleaned, complete and stored in the original case or box. The lack of components may result in a penalty and the blocking of the card until the return or payment.
The service is included in the Library of Things of the BPL, the collection of objects that the library lends besides books: vinyl records, table games, telescopes, musical instruments, museum passes and equipment for small domestic works. The new Craft Supply Library expands this model in a precise direction: allowing residents to experience creative activity without having to buy expensive tools or find space to store them.
The library also accepts donations of reusable tools and materials in good condition. The proposals are randomly evaluated and can be sent to craftsupplylibrary@bklynlibrary.org. Consumer materials are not accepted.
L’articolo The Brooklyn Public Library also lends DIY tools proviene da IlNewyorkese.
