These kits allow us to foster an atmosphere of lifelong learning for all of our patrons. Our crafts books have always been especially popular and we wanted to take that to the next level and give our patrons the opportunity for hands on experimentation. The kits can appeal to a wide variety of patrons at different points in their lives and can even have a multigenerational aspect of sharing a new activity with a child.

Our goal was to create three to six kits in before July of 2017. We created three crochet kits, three coloring kits for adults, one Zumba exercise kit and three sewing machine kits. We needed materials that were inexpensive and could be easily replaced without a major funding commitment. It was also very important that the circulation rules be very simple so they wouldn’t be a hassle for staff or patrons.

We achieved our goal of creating three to six kits before July. We also set a goal of having the kits circulate 35 times before the end of the fiscal year and we were also able to achieve that goal. We’ve received a considerable amount of positive feedback from staff and patrons about the kits and plan to continue adding to the collection as we come up with more ideas.