We’ve been lending board games at West Slope Library for about a year. When we decided to do this, there were a lot of great resources on running library board game programs, but there were not many resources on building board game lending collections. Through the wonders of WorldCat I was able to track down a library (Portneuf Public Library in Chubbuck, Idaho) that circulated board games and then contacted the library assistant who managed their collection. Knowing that another library had been successful with lending board games was confirmation that we could do it, too.

So, I reached out to librarians on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and the ALA Connect GameRT site to begin compiling a list of libraries that circulate board games, toys, and puzzles. Libraries that have these kinds of materials in their collections for in-library use only are not included. Of course, a comprehensive list of libraries that circulate materials for play would be much, much longer than this, but this is a starting point and hopefully useful for librarians who are looking to reach out to other libraries and see how they select, order, catalog, process, and lend their games.

• Arizona State University’s Fletcher Library lends board games.
• Bucks County Free Library in New Jersey lends toys (and board games in the near future).
• Creswell Public Library in Creswell, Oregon lends board games.
• Delaware County District Library in Delaware, Ohio lends board games.
• Fern Ridge Public Library in Veneta, Oregon lends board games.
• Hillsboro Public Library in Hillsboro, Oregon lends board games.
• Holy Names University in Oakland, California lends board games.
• Iowa City Public Library in Iowa City, Iowa lends puzzles and toys.
• Oakland Public Library will be lending toys (thanks to a grant).
• Portneuf Public Library in Chubbuck, Idaho lends board games.
• University of San Francisco lends puzzles.
• Urbana Free Library in Urbana, Illinois lends board games.
• Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Georgia lends board games, puzzles, hula hoops, and puppets.
• West Slope Community Library in Portland, Oregon lends board games.

All of the above are North American libraries, but check out Helsinki City Library in Finland and the huge collection of modern games in its catalog. Really impressive.

Thanks to those who shared the names of these libraries on social media. If you know of other libraries that should be on this list, please let me know!

Libraries that lend money, helping hands, and their ears will be on a separate list.