Brooklyn Public Library opened its first Craft Supply Library on Sept. 9, letting adult cardholders borrow the actual equipment for screen printing, bookbinding, metal stamping, hand embroidery and more. It grew out of one librarian’s failed needle felting hobby — Jess Harwick bought the wool and the tools, it did not click, and her exact kit is now in the circulating collection. The collection lives alongside BPL’s broader “Library of Things”: vinyl records, board games, museum passes, musical instruments, telescopes.
The rules are simple, and the kit-vs-tool split is the part that matters:
- Who: BPL patrons with an adult library card. Free.
- How much: up to 3 craft kits and 2 craft tools at once.
- How long: kits loan for 3 weeks; tools loan for 1 week.
- How to get it: search the catalog for “craft supplies” and place a hold — browse by the tags “craft kits” and “craft tools.” Holds can take up to 3 days to process; unclaimed holds drop off after 7 days.
- Where: Central Library only, 10 Grand Army Plaza — the Art and Music Space on the 2nd floor, which just got renovated. No book-drop returns, and no pickups or returns on Sundays.
- Not included: consumables — thread, yarn, glue, paint, buttons. You supply those. No sewing machines yet.
- Returns: cleaned, complete, in the original case. Missing pieces can mean a replacement fine.
- Donations: gently used supplies and tools wanted — craftsupplylibrary@bklynlibrary.org.
The point of a Library of Things is the thing a New York apartment cannot hold: a screen printing setup you use twice, a bookbinding kit you try in October and never touch again. This is the rare version of that idea where you can rent the hobby before you buy it.