Hey Library Land, Howell Carnegie Library is looking at adding a significant number of tools to our Library of Things in the next year-ish. Those of you who circulate tools, would you mind sharing: - How many tools do you lend? - What's the most popular? - What would you buy again? - What would you never buy again? - What are your rules and policies? - Are there some tools you'll just never buy because of liability concerns? - What if a tool comes back dirty? Do you charge a cleaning fee? If so, how much? Does your cleaning fee prevent your patron from using the library at all (physical materials, ematerials, other special collections) until it's addressed? How dirty would a garden tool have to be to trigger the cleaning fee? - Who handles the upkeep of the tools, like sharpening garden shears if you have them? Or doing the cleaning if a patron decides to pay the fee rather than come back and clean the item? - Do you circulate anything that's powered? Electric or fuel-powered, and if fuel-powered, do you take any extra storage precautions? - Do you have any tips, tricks, or "I wish we'd thought of..." thoughts for storing your tools? - Are there any other "I wish we'd thought of" moments in general you'd recommend we consider? If y'all would rather respond off-list, I can compile the answers and share with the list later. And thanks for letting us stand on the shoulders of giants, not reinvent the wheel, and any other number of colloquialisms that apply here! -- Jessica Byrns (she/her) Head of Adult and Technical Services Howell Carnegie District Library 314 West Grand River Ave. Howell, MI 48843