In April of 2019, the San Mateo Public Library Foundation, a group of community members and volunteers assisting the San Mateo Public Library, began raising funds. Its goal was to lend new library materials to students and other members in the community. To decide what new materials would be lent, patrons were surveyed.
“The mission of a public library is to entertain and educate people,” said city librarian James Moore. “It’s different from a school where you sit down and someone tells you, ‘You need to read this book or do this homework.’ It’s meant to be where you could walk in and find whatever you’re interested in.”
Before Moore became a librarian in San Mateo, he managed Berkeley’s Tool Lending Library, which was created in 1979 and has grown to provide Berkeley residents with access to a wide selection of mechanical tools, such as carpentry and woodworking tools, that people can borrow. The TLL expanded to make cooking utensils available. Its success was part of Moore’s inspiration for the future of the San Mateo Public Library.
“[The new program] is a way to offer items for people who are more hands on and learn by tinkering“
The items at the library are available to San Mateo and Hillsborough residents with a San Mateo Public Library card. Items can be checked out for three weeks without renewals, and there is a 24-hour time window between when a person returns their material and a new patron can check it out.
When checking out books, patrons can place a hold to reserve a book when it is available, but no holds can be placed on the new materials at the library. During the COVID-19 pandemic, hotspots and Chromebooks became available, providing people ways to work from home. The new items offered include musical instruments, portable studios, Spire recorders and robotics kits.
Musical instruments were added after many local elementary and middle schools defunded their music programs in an effort to provide students with the proper technology to explore creativity. Portable studios and recorders were selected in light of the trend of podcasts and other popular uses in social media. The increase in interest in robotics and STEM programs in schools prompted the addition of tools for those programs as well. Moore has done a lot of work in running the program with the help of the foundation.
“There are some people who can sit still … in a classroom, and that’s a lot of how our education system is made up,” Moore said. “But there are some people who learn better by putting their hands on things, building things, taking them apart [and] exploring. We offer books for those who like to sit still and read, and [the new program] is a way to offer items for people who are more hands on and learn better by tinkering.”
Students are looking forward to the program and the expanding availability of technology and other materials.
“I think that having a library for more things than just a book will be good for students,” said junior Louisa Varni. “Not everyone is a fan of reading and having more things available will be good.”
The library continues to grow with new trends and changes to everyday life, and the new items being lent out are allowing many patrons to explore their passions or find new hobbies.
