Stop a student or faculty member on campus. Do a quick word association. Ask “What’s the first word that comes to your mind when you think Library.” Expect the answer to be “books”. That’s not unexpected. In an extensive national survey done in 2005 about libraries nearly everyone associated the word “book” with “library”. What you might not know is that in addition to the over 3 million books held by the Temple Libraries, there are also a number of non-book items that you might not expect a library to hold in its collection.
A few of them are pretty unusual.
Here are five unusual or less common non-book items you can borrow from the Temple Libraries:
Digital Gear
In addition to books, many of the Temple Libraries also offer electronic devices that community members can borrow. The photo below features some of the digital gear available at the Paley Library Media Services Desk. The digital SLR is one of the most popular items sought by students for completing projects. Don’t wait until the last minute to borrow it, as there may be a waiting list. We also have a digital recorder that is perfect for creating podcasts. Our iPads are also popular and these can be found at Paley, Science & Engineering, and Ambler.
Digital devices available for loan from Temple Libraries
Lots of DVD Movies
Perhaps this one is less surprising, but there are still students who are unaware of the huge collection of DVD movies available for loan at Paley Library’s Media Services Desk. While many of the videos are instruction-related for courses, there are many popular feature films and we add new ones weekly. We now offer a browsing area, shown below, to make it easy to find DVD movies that you’ll want to borrow.
DVD titles can be browsed at Media Services
Box of Bones
It may seem a bit creepy for the Library to have a dis-assembled human skeleton, but it’s all in the name of learning. This is one of the more popular items kept at the Paley Library Reserve Desk, and it is used frequently by kinesiology students studying human anatomy. So how do we know that the box was returned with all the bones? Good question. Don’t worry. Our expert circulation/reserve staff is on top of it.
Students can borrow a box of human bones.
Box of Rocks
Looking for rocks to study. If so, you are probably a geology student – or maybe you just like to know your rocks. Either way, we’ve got them. You can find five boxes of rock samples just like the one shown below at our circulation/reserve desk. You’ll want to check this item out if your looking for a “rocking” good time (sorry).
This is just one of several sets of rocks we offer.
Nice Muscles
If you’re learning human anatomy and you need more than bones, we’ve got some nice muscles for you. This is a great way to study the human musculature system – or perhaps you just want to know what your muscles look like and a web image just doesn’t do it for you. This non-book items is also found at the circulation/reserve desk.
These muscles look real but their just plastic
What else? Well, the Law Library was rumored to have a nifty clip-on tie collection. Those male law students never know when they’ll need to look their best. However, it’s just a tie – not a collection. But it is a great tie that goes with just about anything.
Law Library’s circulating tie.
So the next time you hear someone say “The Library – yeah – that’s just lots of books” you can quickly point out that the Temple Libraries are about more than just books. Whether it’s electronic gear, movies or just rocks – there’s always something new and different to explore at Temple Libraries.