There is a reason libraries once occupied entire rooms in palaces and mansions.
Books were the new technology: expensive, rare, and, for most people, difficult to access. Until the mid-15th century, they were all painstakingly crafted by hand. To possess a large collection didn’t simply imply one was well-read; it underscored vital access to knowledge that much of the world did not have. Eventually, trusts were established, governments stepped in, libraries expanded collections , making this precious technology free – if only temporarily – to almost anyone. One did not have to be wealthy, or even an adult. You could just walk into a library and ask to borrow a title. The modern public library now is changing what it means to borrow. Across the world, local libraries might also lend out 3D printers, Lego sets, telescopes, hiking gear or even a waffle-maker. Some libraries in Finland, Norway, Denmark, Ireland, Germany, India and the US among others, offer access to makerspaces, editing suites and podcasting studios. The idea behind it, however, remains wonderfully much the same: access without ownership. A chance to try something without having to buy it first. What does that mean for the future of this public institution? The answer is already taking shape on library shelves around the world, where books are no longer the only offering. *** Over the past decade, libraries have been expanding their catalogues beyond books, journals, digital archives, to become a magical cupboard full of eclectic things. Members can simply borrow and take these items home to use, or, as in the case of the 3D printers, use them on the premises. “The library of things, available at most of our centres, is an extension of that. At Westmeath Libraries in Ireland, meanwhile, members can borrow reading aids, home energy saving kits, musical instruments, toys and games, seeds (that you return by harvesting from mature plants) and children’s costumes. Elsewhere, libraries in parts of India, US, Germany, Norway, Denmark offer gaming consoles, videogame CDs, laser-cutters, audio-recording gear, gardening equipment, grills, air fryers, coffee and sushi-makers, VR glasses, as well as birding and hiking equipment. Some, such as the St Louis Public Library in Missouri, the Los Angeles Public Library and the Jersey City Free Public Library in the US also lend access to editing, game development and graphic design software and podcasting and video production studios. Still others allow citizens to book makerspace labs, and heavy-duty equipment such as heat press machines to design customised mugs and apparel, button and magnet makers. most libraries tend to buy them While some of these items are donated by members and other partner organisations. And they’re free to use, with some requiring a small security deposit. *** The novelty is part of the appeal. But beneath the unusual mix of objects lie surprisingly intimate details about the communities using them. At Westmeath, for instance, which runs six libraries in Ireland, on offer are C-Pens: pocket-sized, handheld digital scanning pens that can read printed text aloud. In various parts of the world, traditional public libraries have been contending with funding cuts, rising cost of digital licensing, maintenance issues, shrinking physical collections,and other structural issues. Research by University of Sheffield this year warns that physical collections at UK libraries available to residents have been shrinking amid budget cuts. All of which impacts citizens’ access to well-functioning public libraries. What does it mean when libraries disappear or struggle in a region, as compared to other ordinary businesses? This is why the future of public libraries cannot just focus on books. Especially as the internet, social media, and now artificial intelligence (AI) transform the way we consume information. (Read how libraries are already responding to emerging technology and their role in helping us navigate this tricky space.) * ** There are other subtler shifts at work too as libraries take on a new role. One involves a gradual switch from consuming culture to creating it. In a hyper-capitalistic world, built on ownership, the library of things offers a simpler alternative: borrow, use and pass on. Easy access to 3D printers and sewing kits can further nudge members to repair, instead of buy. The 3D printers at Westmeath or in Helsinki, for instance, are most popularly used to print small parts of board games or custom screws and bolts for home repairs.
With the invention of the printing press by German craftsman Johannes Gutenberg in 1440, a radical idea emerged: knowledge and culture could now move beyond the confines of the elite. For instance, Finland’s Helsinki City Library – that country’s largest with 38 branches and more than 1.56 million books – has, for the past decade, designed a collection that includes sleds, tennis rackets, board games, tools, sewing machines, 3D printers, moving trolleys, even select season passes to local sports games. They can cost anywhere between ₹ 4,500 and ₹ 25,000. This is especially crucial in a country where at least one in five individuals has reported feeling lonely once a week or more frequently according to a Finnish Red Cross survey of over 1,400 citizens published in February. *** As everything surrounding reading, learning, working and creating evolves, libraries too have had to shift with the times. In the UK, since 2016, more than 180 UK council-run libraries have shuttered or been handed over to volunteer groups, according to a BBC report in 2024. In the US, 70% of the country’s over-17,000 libraries, have a backlog of deferred maintenance and repairs. A 2025 study by the US Government Accountability Office identified rising construction costs and limited funding as key challenges to addressing these needs. The cracks are visible in India too, where a 2018 study by researchers at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), Bengaluru, found that the public library network is struggling with underfunding, inadequate infrastructure and staffing, and an uneven system of library laws and funding across states. A 2009 analysis by the University College Oslo, Norway, of 38 studies worldwide shows that public libraries generate $3-5 in value for every dollar invested, through not just direct benefits such as savings for users and job support, but also via broader, indirect benefits: improved literacy, digital skills, employability and community wellbeing.
“The ethos of shared ownership is deeply rooted in the idea of the Nordic welfare society,” says Lotta Muurinen, director of regional library services at the local Helsinki city council that oversees the Helsinki City Library. A library traditionally allows someone to encounter a book, an idea or a body of knowledge they might otherwise not have encountered, says Kashyap Kompella, a tech industry analyst and author. “In its modern avatar with recording studios, telescopes, editing workstations or makerspaces… you are no longer simply reading or watching what somebody else produced; you have access to tools to make it yourself,” points out Kompella.
“These devices are expensive but they help people with dyslexia and other reading difficulties. Some of their most borrowed items include walking poles that have made their way to the top of the 764m-high Croagh Patrick pilgrimage peak several times; home energy kits that households can use to track their energy usage; and a carousel of children’s fancy costumes donated by parents in the community. In drippy cold Ireland, where three to four months of dark winters can feel overwhelmingly gloomy, some Westmeath libraries lend a portable therapy light box that mimics sunlight to regulate melatonin and increase cortisol. When long, frigid winters make meeting outdoors difficult for much of the year, Finland libraries offer something that cannot be taken home: a space to just be.
Borrowing a C-Pen allows a reader to discover whether it actually helps them, before deciding to invest in their own device,” says Paula Leavy-McCarthy, country librarian for arts, archives and libraries, at Westmeath County Council. “The library functions as a space where you can hang around, see things, read, talk, or not talk,” says Virva Hiiri, director of library network services at the Helsinki city council. Apart from reading rooms, study areas and workstations, free spaces act as a “public living room” where visitors can catch up with a friend, sit and knit, or simply spend time doing nothing.
“A neighbourhood in which every household owns an appliance that it uses twice a year is one version of prosperity. A neighbourhood in which everyone can obtain that appliance when they need it is another version of prosperity.
A library of things makes that abstract idea of communal ownership something wonderfully mundane: a tent, a drill, a costume, a telescope waiting for its next user,” says Kompella.
