22 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY september 19-25, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com about a science or history kit they want to check out. For those experiencing emotional challenges, checking out material on mental health in an opaque backpack is the way to go, since stigma on mental health still lingers. They include books about different topics such depression or gender identity. Some include heart-shaped pillows users can use to soothe themselves, or “worry monsters” that eat their worries away. PGPL offers several “hands-on experience” backpack kits. Some focus on science, such as animals, engineering, and the human body; others focus on history and have 18-inch American Girl dolls, inviting little ones to learn about American history through a kid’s lens. On one recent day, there was only one doll in stock out of 14 available for checkout. For older library-goers, MCFL offers dementia kits. These include books for caregivers, as well as activities for the person whose memory is declining. Theyer checked one out for herself and her 82-year-old mother, and she says it helped her interact with her mom, and make her feel more comfortable. The late-stage kit includes a fidget muff shaped like a dog; it’s a soft, sensory toy people can put their hands in, and it has beads and ribbons. “That became one of my mom’s favorite things,” Theyer says. “Would I ever have purchased that on my own? No, probably not. I wouldn’t have known about it. Wouldn’t have known if it would work, but the fact that I could borrow it, see it and try it, then I can say, ‘OK, now I’m going to invest in this for her.’” Sometimes, library collections might feel to a patron like a magician’s hat—you never know what you might find on hand, from a tiny seed to a giant telescope or a mid-sized cooking utensil. But for librarians, the process of adding new items is more methodical than reaching into a hat. They deliberate about what to add and how to serve the community. They survey library card holders for ideas; Salinas Public Library includes a survey in every backpack to track what is working or not. Before adding a new item to the collection, everything is tested, cataloged, and librarians must make a plan for proper storage. If something breaks easily or is difficult to clean, it may not make the cut, even if there is interest from patrons. Librarians check the product instructions and rewrite them if the existing ones are confusing, and also translate them into Spanish. They also discuss replacement costs and maintenance of items before committing. Many items in the library of things are funded by grants. When the money runs out, the offerings may end, or evolve into something else. For people who want to donate, library officials recommend cash donations—they do not want your old ice cream maker that may no longer be under warranty, missing the original instructions or a plan for storage. They also suggest contacting the local library to ask how you can help or what specific items you can donate. This is how two local organizations, Monterey Stinging Jellies Disc Golf Club and Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy (MIRA), got frisbees for disc golf and telescopes for stargazing, respectively, accessible to the community in library collections at Monterey County Free Libraries, Salinas Public Library and Monterey Public Library. MCFL relaunched its back-toschool wish list last month. Their Amazon list (at bit.ly/MCFLWishlist) includes school and craft supplies for student support centers across its branches. From books to e-books to internet access and to the growing collections of objects, libraries have long been evolving. Smartphones mean that most people have access to a massive volume of knowledge any time, so the concept of the library is changing. But the premise always returns to expanding knowledge and enriching people’s lives. The seeds of a library of things were planted back in 2012 for Francesca Garibaldi, administrative assistant at Monterey Public Library. She found a variety of examples elsewhere—bikes available for loan from UC Santa Cruz’s library, cake pans in Ohio, guitars available in East Palo Alto. In her research, she most connected to the idea of a seed library, and a CSU Monterey Bay environmental studies student made the idea her capstone project. Monterey’s seed library launched in 2014. Now, a decade later, seeds for tomatoes, sunflowers, peas and lettuce are available in small envelopes that sit inside the drawers of an old-fashioned, wooden card catalog. Some are seeds from library patrons who “borrowed” seeds from the earlier collection, grew successful plants and then harvested the seeds. “A lot of seed libraries are run solely on the community donations of seeds,” says Sofia Neal, an assistant librarian at Monterey Public Library. Monterey Public Library’s “library of things” also includes three ukuleles as well as two telescopes. Some items are tiny like seeds, while others are large. Monterey County Free Libraries also has four telescopes in its collection, great for clear nights and meteor showers. Library staff provide a basic demo on how to use the telescopes, and levers have been marked so users can easily see how to adjust them properly. The telescope kits include a booklet on how to use them, including guidance not to point them directly at the sun. The local libraries’ telescopes were donated by MIRA in 2017; each is valued at between $250 and $450, and can be used to view planets, star clusters, nebulae and more. These are not books about astronomy, but a tool that enables library patrons to experience astronomy for themselves. (There are, of course, books about astronomy—and how to play ukulele, and gardening—that pair well with the objects.) “Accessibility to the night sky is not something everybody has a chance at,” says Jean Perkins, an astronomer at MIRA. “Putting telescopes in the local library really opens up the chance for people to explore stuff.” That’s part of the original spirit of democratizing the sharing of knowledge through free books on loan—plus items from cake pans to instruments to telescopes. Local libraries offer an array of events. Offerings at the Marina branch of Monterey County Free Libraries include Dads Read!, which features a different man reading to children each month; at top, Herbert Cortez takes his turn reading aloud. Hands-on workshops for kids to learn about science include Biology with Berta sessions (below). Daniel Dreifuss Celia Jiménez
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