Bird Library features button maker, other items in new ‘Library of Things’
SU Bird Library launched its “Library of Things,” a collection consisting mostly of household and crafting goods. The catalog, funded by a staff innovation grant, provided items students may not be able to afford or keep themselves. Leonardo Eriman | Daily Orange File Photo
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From a crochet set and clothing steamer to a ghost hunting kit and karaoke machine, Syracuse University students can now rent items from a 21-item catalogue at Bird Library’s new “Library of Things.”
Inspired by similar initiatives at other universities, four Bird employees — including Head of Access and Resource Sharing Tiffany Raymond — launched it on Monday.
Funded by a staff innovation grant available within the SU library network, the collection includes items that students may not have the resources to purchase themselves. It also aims to loan items students may only need occasionally, so they don’t have to devote time, money and storage space to purchase the items themselves, Raymond said.
“If you want to give knitting a try because your friend told you it’s really relaxing, you don’t have to go out and buy all of the implements,” Raymond said. “That can be expensive for a craft that you’re not actually going to like.”
The grant request was submitted roughly a year ago, and once the funding was approved, Raymond immediately got to work.
Raymond and Nick Olivieri, Bird’s access user services manager, said they were inspired by other librarians at a conference in 2024 who explained the impacts their own libraries of things made on their students. The two launched the project alongside Access Services Supervisor Kaly Johnston and Access Services Librarian Kristin Jeter.
The team said they took a lot of time and research deciding what to purchase, weighing practicality and the needs of students. Raymond said they needed to ensure the new library was logistically possible for Bird’s staff before further pursuing the initiative.
“We have to process (the items) to make sure that they are ready to circulate, so that when a student comes to the desk to ask for something, it’s something that they can transport out of here without too much trouble,” Raymond said.
Additionally, cataloging all the items, storing them and setting up new rules in the library system was a full-time job, Olivieri said. He said those who don’t work in a library might not recognize how much time this process takes.
“You have to teach our loaning software how to properly loan all of these items because you need to establish new rules, new identities for all of these items, and it needs to be able to recognize those identities and apply those rules properly,” Olivieri said. “So there’s a lot of things that happen behind the scenes in order to roll out a new collection.”
Additionally, Raymond said the crafting items and games allow students to engage in new recreational activities, without having to spend money on non-essential items. SU students feel the same way.
“The Library of Things provides a great opportunity for students and for myself to take a break from all the schoolwork or stress, and allows us to branch out into our creative side,” SU freshman Gigi Gandarillas said.
Gandarillas has always wanted to try sewing, and now, she has an opportunity to try it.
Raymond said the library’s team intends to keep track of what goods are popular and which are not. That way, she said they can eventually expand the collection to loan even more items of practical use to SU students.
“Since it’s a loan, students learn to take care of things that they don’t own, while still having access to the goods,” SU sophomore Sophia O’Brien said. “I think it’s really smart of SU to eventually expand this to more varieties of loanable items.”
Students can view the list of available items online or at the Bird circulation desk. They can also fill out a form to suggest new items they’d like to see in the future.
