Reduce, reuse & share: Library of Things lends mix of items

DURHAM, N.H. (AP) — Imagine being able to borrow a cot for house guests, a highchair for visiting grandkids, or yard games for a party, then returning them for reuse and not having to store them.

Amy Goldberg does and that’s the premise of her “Library of Things,” which she envisions as a place for locals to donate things and their neighbors to borrow them as needed. Examples of things include slow cookers, pasta makers, horseshoe games, power tools, camping gear and all the stuff stowed in closets, basements and garages. Goldberg cited shared karaoke machines, walking canes, serving trays, punch bowls, massage balls, label makers, shop vacs and waffle irons.

Her insurer told her the only things she can’t loan, for liability reasons, are chainsaws and ladders.

“What community does not need this?” asked Goldberg, a Durham resident who hatched the plan while living in Newmarket.

The Portsmouth-based GoodWork, a nonprofit incubator to support startup nonprofits, recent announced it selected Goldberg’s Library of Things plan as a beneficiary. GoodWork describes the Library of Things as “a centralized location where people can donate underutilized items to share with others who might not have the space to store things, the money to buy them, or the need to use them all the time.”

Goldberg said when she was told GoodWork will help her move her concept to reality, “I honestly thought I was on ‘Candid Camera.’”

It’s an extension of the sharing economy, an ecological initiative and a way to economize. To highlight the need, Goldberg reports the average power drill is only used for 30 minutes.

She has worked in the communications disorders field and as a cranial sacral therapist. Throughout her life, Goldberg said, if a friend or neighbor was...