The Summit County Library isn’t only for books. It’s also a “Library of Things,” allowing residents to check out physical and digital resources, including language lessons and streaming services — and all that’s needed is a library card. The Library of Things provides the community w ith free access to physical activities and devices to use in their own homes.  For those wanting to try a new board game or yard game without paying for the whole thing first, Summit County has over 150 games available to rent. There are pickleball or disc golf sets available, as well as kits for children to learn about nature or the science of stress relief.  Library patrons can also rent Roku streaming sticks with streaming services already signed in to access streaming catalogs, or make a movie night by renting a DVD, a DVD player and a projector for free.  The library also gives residents access to Kanopy, a digital streaming service where you can access many classic movies and shows or the magazines available on Libby, which have no wait times or required return date.  “You basically get it forever,” said Summit County Library Director Dan Compton.  Summit County has also worked with the Summit County Health Department to provide blood pressure monitor kits as a service available for the community to rent from the Library of Things.  Compton said most people seem to be aware of Libby, the online ebook and audiobook platform where library users can borrow materials online. But the Summit County Library has more digital materials beyond that, many of which are underutilized.  “Some of our digital resources are pretty robust and I think people aren’t aware,” Compton said. “A lot of people are interested in learning a language, for instance, and we have a service called Mango Languages that offers over 70 different languages and you can download the app on your phone through your library card.” Compton said Mango Languages has “pretty much any language,” and it also offers English classes with specialized learning techniques determined by the user’s first language. That means a Spanish speaker and a Russian speaker could both use Mango Languages to perfect their English, for example, but the two individuals would likely have different experiences because the program would base its lessons on Spanish or Russian grammar.  Summit County Library is part of a consortium with three other libraries, where they offer three virtual author events a month, which can be streamed live on the library website, no library card needed. Live viewers can ask questions for the moderator to pass along to the author and recordings of the events are available online for free.   ”We can get really popular authors through that program that there is no way we would be able to afford otherwise,” said Compton. “For instance, they just had Matt Dinneman, the author of ‘Dungeon Crawler Carl.’ He’s really popular right now”  Compton said Summit County Library has put a special effort into making their materials accessible to everyone throughout the county, even where there is not a physical library branch.  For example, in Henefer, there’s a 24-hour locker system where residents can order physical books and materials online through the Summit County Library portal and have the materials delivered to the hold lockers. While it may take a day or two longer to arrive, the materials can be picked up in town rather than at a physical library branch.  The library also has a Bookmobile that services the entire county, bringing materials, storytime and other events to residents across the Wasatch Back. Residents of Summit County can register for a library card online, and the library also offers free non-resident cards that allow access to most library resources for an extra fee. For information about the Summit County Library, visit thesummitcountylibrary.org. The post Summit County’s ‘Library of Things’ ranges from pickleball sets to blood pressure kits appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less