 Greetings, everyone. I'm James Milan. Welcome to this, the second episode of Check It Out, our Check In with the library here in town about all a number of different subjects. We'll cover in each of these episodes both something that the library offers or initiates or we want to let folks know about, such as is the case today. But also we'll make sure that we let you know of things coming up that you should be paying attention to or looking out for at the library. Because if you're tuning in to this program, you know the library is a hub of activity here in town and really one of the very centers of our community. So, who else will I talk to other than our library director? Andrea Nicolai is here joining me and she has brought a whole bunch of stuff to talk about as well. So, excuse me. Andrea, thanks. Oh, it's such a pleasure to be here. Thank you. Yeah. I love the fact this is the second episode because that means it's going to happen. This is a series now and we're going to be moving forward with it. I think it's going to be both fun to do but also really informative for our audience, which is great. Speaking of which, as I mentioned, you are surrounded by things here. It's true. The keyword today is things. So, tell us a little bit what one of the main things we'll be talking about today. Sure, sure. So, I have brought some show and tell items because I am here to talk about the library of things and the Discover It Yourself collection in the Children's Room. So, libraries for a while now have offered nontraditional collections and the Robbins Library is no exception to that. The library of things was actually started several years ago. It was started with funds from the Friends of the Robbins Library, our wonderful support organization, and Sustainable Arlington. So, with that seed money we were able to offer our initial library of things and lately we've been adding things that are perfect for summertime and that's why I wanted to focus on that especially today. Yeah, and you know it's wonderful actually to see a little picnic basket there right on top of the desk here because we are happened to be filming today on a glorious morning in early May that we hope is a harbinger of things to come. Yeah, it's a perfect day for picnic, no doubt. Absolutely. So, before we get into the kind of expansion of the items that you are making available for people, let me just ask you, so you mentioned here in Arlington the library of things has a five, six year history, but what about that idea in general? Tell us what the concept is, where it comes from and what the goals are for it. Sure. So, as I said, the library of things and nontraditional items in public libraries in general go back a ways and we adopted it when there was kind of a wave of interest in nontraditional library items. Actually, during the building study that we conducted in 2008-17, excuse me, a lot of the feedback from the community was, hey, we want to see maker space in the library, we want to see some items in the library that we can try out and experiment with, it was technology related, craft related, and we didn't have the space to establish a maker space within the library and we didn't have also the staffing that is required to support a space like a maker space. So, as a sort of a compromise, we decided to start the library of things as a sort of, hey, take it home, try this out, take it home and use it. So, that was kind of how the collection was inspired. It was really community inspired and that's what led to our conversations with, again, Sustainable Arlington and the Friends of the Robbins Library. So, we were really lucky to be able to kind of catch that wave and start with, you know, pretty modest collection and now we have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight categories of things in the library of things and there's also in the Discover It Yourself collection in the children's room a variety of things for kids to use and experiment with at home. And I assume those two things are really linked in that the library of things itself, of course, you can be borrowing any of those items for the sake of your children if you're a parent or something like that or for their amusement or entertainment or whatever but a lot of the times the library of things will, you know, be stuff that adults will take on and then DIY, the Discover It Yourself part of the children's section is basically a children's version of the same thing. Exactly and one of our hopes with this collection, you know, a lot of folks, they might have a one-time use or need for something. One of the things I often use as an example of that is our VHS to digital converter. VHS? VHS, yes. Yes, once upon a time. So with that, I mean, you know, you might have a stack of home videos that you've been meaning to convert for a while and you might need that one time and then, you know, what are you going to do? You're going to lend it to a friend, probably, so we're just, you know, we're filling that role of, you know, the friend who lends you the thing that you need only one time. So that's worked really, really well and the same thing goes with the kids' things. It's like, you know, your kid might be interested in a craft and want to try it one time and then get bored with it or they become like completely inspired by it and you decide, oh, okay, I'm going to purchase this for my home. So it's kind of a try before you buy opportunity as well and free. Yeah, I'm sure both of those examples you've just given are going to have people's ears perking up, especially I think the latter with, you know, parents kind of going, oh, wow, I can just try that out. Can I and see whether, you know, my son or daughter, you know, whether they're going to like this or not without... That's a luxury that I wish we had had, I have to say, when our children were young. I also want to mention something really important that we added during the pandemic. We added 20 hotspots in the library of things so that when people need internet, when their internet fails, we know how dependent we were on the internet for all kinds of things, including school, during the pandemic. So these are portable hotspots, basically. And they were actually purchased with a grant from the state. So it was, those have been out constantly almost since we added them to the collection. And so that's an example of a technology thing that, you know, as opposed to being sort of fun, was actually kind of a necessity for a lot of people during the last couple of years. And how do things work in terms of the checkout process and duration with things in the library of things? Great question. And I'm going to refer to my cheat sheet because, you know, the library director doesn't always remember the lending rules. So things go out generally for a week and they have to be returned because usually they're on hold for someone else, especially if it's a popular item, like the hotspots. Yes, that's what got me thinking this way. Assuming that there's going to be more of a demand than there is supply, even though 20 sounds like a good number, as you said, they're in constant use. So as opposed to the, you know, we'll just remind people that the Robbins Library's very generous checkout policy for books and other kinds of materials. I'm most familiar with books. I know you can take it out for three weeks and it can renew for another three weeks and then another. So that's a good long chunk of time that I often take advantage of, I have to say, with the books. But here you need things circulating in and out, I assume, a little bit more. Yeah, they're popular items. So we like to keep them going in circulation and we will call you if you hang on to it too long. We haven't really run into that too much. There have been a couple of issues with hotspots or Chromebooks not coming back in a timely way. But for the most part, people are good about it. You know, Arlington is full of people who care about each other. So we like to see that it's working as a collection. It's a community that is generous-spirited collectively, I think, in that way. And one of the great examples, I've mentioned this before in subsequent years after you guys made this policy change, but I have to say I was skeptical about how it would work once you removed the fines from people having overdue materials. And I remember you specifically, Andrea, were quite confident that people were going to respond with their best selves. And I assume that that's happened generally because I have not heard that this has been a problem. Yeah, thanks for reminding people that we are fine free, something we're really proud of. It's been that way since 2019, and a lot of Massachusetts libraries have followed since. I think the most recent Minuteman library to go fine free is Ashland. So yay, Ashland. Right, and yay Arlington for leading the charge. We were an early adopter, yes, I'm proud to say. That's great. Okay, well, we have mentioned and referred to the fact that you've got a number of things here and some show and tell to do, so let's get going on that. Alright, well, you know, picnic basket, I think I raised this a little bit earlier. What does it contain? It contains all of the... Oh, it contains nothing. That's hilarious. I thought it would have like champagne glasses inside, but it is a basket. That's funny. I'm going to move on to the next thing. Yeah, go ahead. That's a nice empty picnic basket, which again, people can fill with the stuff that they're going to bring for picnics. Fair enough. That's right. Well, you know, who wants to use champagne glasses that someone else has used anyway? And plus they'd have to be those plastic ones that, you know, that would break on the lawn anyway. So that's my cover there. Exactly. We also have an orienteering kit from the Children's Library of Things that comes with a map and compass book as well as, of course, a compass, and that's what you need for orienteering. So that's the orienteering kit. I also brought a nature exploration kit, which... Oh, I'm going to knock the picnic basket right off the table, which actually comes with nets. A lot of kids are, you know, they're interested in catching fireflies and all kinds of other creatures to kind of look at for a while and then release. And we also have some, a journal that you can add to, similar to the journals that we circulate with our American Girl dolls. I don't know if you're familiar with that collection also, but we have American Girl dolls that circulate. And we also have here the Kids Guide to Exploring Nature. So all kinds of good things in this backpack. So it looks to me then that what people would take out is the backpack itself filled with a number of different items that would make sense for the activities they're interested in. Yes. But of course then people have to make sure that they're good about returning the entirety of those. And there is a handy checklist so that you can check and make sure that all the things are together. This is a beach tent. This is brand new to the Library of Things in so far as the adult collection. So if you've been thinking about what it might be like to use a beach tent and you haven't been able to take the plunge and make that purchase, try it out. Take the plunge. I like that. Yeah. All right. I'm not intended, but it's still good. So those are the things that I brought to show you today, but there's a lot more. I was hesitant. I only wanted to bring what I could carry easily into and out of your studio. Yeah. No, we appreciate that. And it is just a sampling, but I think it's a really nice little mix of things to show a couple of your main points. One is we are speaking to you in May and we are anticipating, we hope, better weather to come and for a number of months. And so kids will not only be enjoying that weather, one assumes, but they'll also be out of school for a certain amount of time in these next months. So parents and children alike, I think are going to be making great use of the items you've just mentioned. And the fact that you guys have, you mentioned the whole library of things is about non-traditional items that, you know, you can make available to people to borrow for some amount of time. I never would have thought about a beach tent in there. And that's perfect, because again, I mean, who knows until generally after you've spent the money, whether it's actually going to be something that makes sense or not. It's going to take out more than one thing at a time. So if you want to check out our ukulele, check out our picnic basket, check out the beach tent. I mean, that's a day. That's a fun day at the beach, musical. That's, that is, yeah, that is very fun. And it can all fit in the picnic basket since there's nothing else in there. Yeah, it's almost perfectly the right size. That's right. Well, that really is a, you know, I think just kind of a splendid offering that is only going to continue to expand, I assume, right? Yeah, and actually that brings me to something I wanted to mention and give a shout out to the town about. A lot of people ask us sometimes whether they can donate a gently used thing to our collection and we don't accept used things. For one thing, we don't have the space to store a big collection of used items. Space is at a premium in the library. So, I was really excited when I saw that there's a swap shed that's begun for the town and you can bring things to the swap shed, take a thing, leave a thing, or you don't have to take a thing, you can just, I mean, you don't have to bring a thing to exchange. Right. You can just shop the collection. Right, you can just participate in one part of it. You can take, you can leave, you can, yeah. And I just think that is so fabulous and it's going to really provide us with not only the ability to refer people, you know, and let people know about that great resource but also, you know, another way that Arlington is looking out for the environment. Yeah, and, you know, we will just quick plug that the swap shed is located over on Ryder Street, which is where the recycling center is for town, etc. And that's right near the bike path just across the bike path from the rec center that people are probably familiar with. So, that's the general location. Again, it's Ryder Street for the swap shed that Andrea was just talking about. And now that you mentioned where the swap shed is, I do want to mention where to find our library of things. So, on robinslibrary.org, if you go to collections and services, you'll see the library of things listed there and you'll also see the Discover It Yourself collection listed there. And American Girl Dolls are also one of the collections listed. So, really easy to find the page that shows you all the different categories for the things and go from there. And that'll connect you to the catalog where you can place a hold or what have you. Yes, and I do... my own assumption is that people will have to be prepared kind of a little bit thinking in advance maybe if they want the beach tent or something else like that where there's only a single item and there may be many people who want it because as you say, people can have it for up to a week. So, imagine they just have to... everybody's got to be prepared probably for having a hold for a little bit. Yeah, and that's not unusual for the library anyway. So, just as you might not get that beach read in time, you might not get the beach tent in time, do you know what's there? It might inspire another trip to the beach. Alright, so get your acts together now for June and July on the beach. Alright, that is wonderful stuff. We've got only about maybe ten minutes left in this particular episode, and we have other things to talk about including a much more sober topic. I'd love to have you explain the current situation that we are aware of not just locally but regionally and nationally around book challenges. Yeah, thank you. It's a very serious issue and we're seeing challenges come up around the country sometimes from individuals and sometimes from organized groups. We've seen examples recently in Florida. I will share the example of a board book called Everywhere Babies by Meyers and an author named Meyers. A book that we have in the Robbins Library Children's Collection that features images of... it's a beautifully illustrated book featuring images of babies being nursed, babies being changed, babies doing all sorts of different activities. This was a book that was challenged and banned in Florida. It is a really dangerous, dangerous thing when you start going down that road because we're a democracy. We promote intellectual freedom. We uphold intellectual freedom in the library and we have policies to protect that freedom. We have a collection development policy for the Robbins Library and we use that policy both to guide our purchasing and also to justify the materials that are in our collections. At the end of that policy, if you're interested, you can find it online in our policies section. It's another screen we can show during this show, but there's a request for reconsideration form. If a library patron in Arlington had an issue with a book or any piece of material for that matter, they would be offered that request for reconsideration form. I am the person who's ultimately responsible for everything in the collection. Of course, we have many librarians purchasing books for our collections, purchasing books and materials, but ultimately I would be the one to respond to a challenge like that. The forum asks some really basic questions like, have you read this in its entirety or have you consumed this in its entirety? What is your issue with the item? What would you like the library to do about it? It's like a one-pager. It's giving people a void. It's basically allowing them to register their reservations, their concerns or their request, but provide some basis for that. That makes sense. I'm curious though. As you've said, this is a... I don't know if you'd call it an epidemic. It's perhaps not at that level right now, but it's happening in a lot of different places around the country. What's the prevalence of such challenges here? The reconsideration form that you were just describing. How many of those do you have to deal with in any given year? It's a precise number, but is it a rare thing? I can give you a precise number. It's two. I've been working in Arlington since 2012 and I have seen two. I won't go into detail, but I will share that we, in both cases, decided to maintain the material in the collection. Every time that happens, what we do is file a report with the Office of Intellectual Freedom with the American Library Association. It's really vital that we keep track of these challenges as a library community and as a society, because it kind of tells us where it allows us to take the temperature on challenges and be prepared. You've certainly answered my question because two instances in ten years is rare indeed. Well, I mean, it perhaps isn't unusual in... I mean, maybe I've been in Arlington for... Well, I've got a different focus than maybe other towns might have, but I wouldn't say that it's atypical for Arlington to kind of take a more... a stronger, supportive view of intellectual freedom. Yeah, I think that's right. It's not going out on a limb, right? Definitely not. I am curious also, obviously a sample size of two is not going to yield an answer here, but in general, as you, I'm sure, are aware of how this is playing out in other libraries also. Do such challenges tend to center around the books in a collection? Because I can imagine that movies and music, for instance, which are also made available regularly and have been for a long time through the libraries, that those might elicit these kinds of objections, even perhaps to a greater degree. I mean, as far as my experience, there was one instance of... it was an image, actually, on the cover of a magazine, and then in another instance, it was actually a program. It was a public program that we were offering. Wow, so in fact, not much in the way of book challenges, as it turns out. Yeah, hopefully... We always welcome the opportunity to have a dialogue with anyone in the community who has questions or curiosity about why something is in the collection or why something is being offered as a program or as a multimedia material. It's just not a bad thing to have a conversation about it, and yet, you know, we have a responsibility as a library to abide by the collection development policies that we've adopted for all kinds of good reasons. And I would encourage anybody who's interested to go ahead with the collection development policy. I think it's actually a really fascinating document for anyone in the democracy to be able to read and understand the role of a public library in providing all kinds of materials on all kinds of viewpoints. Yeah, and that's basically where anybody can find out quite explicitly, I'm sure, and transparently what the guidelines are, what the priorities are that you're going to follow through the collection. Okay, that's, you know, as promised, that was a dive into more serious matters for sure. And we are grateful to be in a community in which, as you've just cited, these instances are rare. And in general, there is this idea of support around the widest possible latitude in terms of, you know, providing materials and engendering, you know, conversation. So before I let you go though, I'd like to make sure that in each of these episodes, we give, you know, folks some kind of preview or just point towards things that are highlights in the upcoming schedule at the library for people to know. Sure, so I'm going to mention two dates. One is May 21st which is the Spring Fling in Arlington Heights. And the Spring Fling is a big street festival that's oriented around environmentalism, environmental issues, and the library will have a table there. I will be there showing off our things. Maybe I'll bring some food in the picnic basket. Yeah, maybe so. Although, again, who knows? I mean, these things are going to be popular. Let's hope you've got some things to bring. Yes, let's hope. Or let's hope I don't, maybe they'll all be out. That's right. Maybe you'll be there. I can show you the list. But I'll be there talking about the things that we have in the library that support conservation and environmentalism. And I also want to mention the date of June 18th, which is going to be a huge day in Arlington, because June 18th is Porchfest. June 18th is also the kickoff of the summer reading program in Arlington. So the library will be offering there will be a popsicle giveaway in the children's room in the garden. And of course, the opportunity to sign up for summer reading, get your face painted, do activities, check out books. It's going to be a fabulous day in the library for kids and families. And we're also planning a musical element to tie in with Porchfest. So stay tuned for that. Finalizing the details there. But June 18th is going to be a really, really exciting day in town. Yeah, and generally, we can count on mid-June as being some lovely weather for us to be able to enjoy these well, we can always escape indoors at the library if we need to. That's right. And summer reading kickoff will happen rain or shine. I assure you that. Right. Let's keep fingers crossed that Porchfest has ideal conditions for that. But I think it's lovely to hear that you're looking to tie those two things in, because Porchfest is an event that everybody really loves and supports here in this town, and we haven't been able to have it in the way that it is going to be. Yeah. We, again, fingers crossed this particular year. Yet another reason to celebrate just getting back to a world that we took for granted for a long time. Yeah. And big shout out to Arlington Center for the Arts and Arlington Commission for Arts and Culture who have worked so hard to make these events happen and really excited to be part of it in our way to the library. All right. Well, Andrea, we are down to mere seconds in this episode. Anything that you want to mention that we haven't yet? I would just encourage everybody to think about summer reading. We offer it for all ages, not just kids, but for teens and adults too. So if you need a little inspiration, a little extra nudge to consume books or any media, I encourage you to participate in summer reading and really use that as your inspiration for culture. Excellent. Yeah. Thank you so much, James. Thank you. She is Andrea Nicolai, the director of libraries here in town. I am James Milan, and this is Check It Out. Thanks so much for joining us. We will see you next time.