Library of Things

A Library of Things is a place where community members can save money by borrowing popular items that are needed only once or occasionally, such as camping gear and party and baking items.

The Library of Things will be located at Woodcroft Library.

You can find the Library within Woodcroft Community Centre at 175 Bains Rd, Morphett Vale. 

The Centre is also our northern green hub demonstration site that showcases the type of building upgrades and systems that residents and businesses can put in place to reduce energy and water consumption, waste to landfill and greenhouse gas emissions.  

Libraries SA members aged 18 years and over can borrow items from the Library of Things. All items must be borrowed and returned to Woodcroft Library.

To become a library member bring photo ID with your current address to any of our libraries - membership is free.

The Library of Things is planned to be available from 8 February 2024.

Items in the Library of Things will be browsable via the library catalogue.

All borrowed items must be returned to the Woodcroft Library during opening hours. Library of Things items cannot be returned through the after-hours returns chute.

Our friends at the Aberfoyle Repair Cafe are planning to create a Tool Library - this will complement our Library of Things as it will also be around the northern part of the Onkaparinga region.

As part of their preparation they surveyed the local community to ask for feedback on the type of items that local residents would be keen to borrow. We used their survey results to create our shopping list of 'things'.

To ensure that we don't double up on what's offered locally we won't be including hand or power tools in our collection at this time.

Suggestions for items are welcome - this will also form part of the evaluation process due after year one of the Library of Things,  when we'll reach out to our community to ask for feedback and any ideas on other useful 'things' to include in the collection. 

Donations will be considered on a case-by-case basis, so please chat to a staff member at Woodcroft Library. Electrical items will not be accepted as a donation.

The Library of Things aims to foster the circular economy and reduce excessive consumption and accumulation of objects that aren’t regularly used.

This initiative is an action in Onkaparinga’s Climate Change Response Plan 2022-2027. It expands Onkaparinga’s library services beyond providing access to traditional items, such as books. It also and adds value to our sports and toy library collections by providing other useful objects such as equipment or appliances to either try before you buy, or use for a short time to complete a specific task.

A circular economy is not simply about managing materials and waste in the most sustainable way, but also how we purchase goods to maximize their lifespan, as well as providing opportunities to reuse and share them.

The Library of Things supports the sharing economy in Onkaparinga and reduces the carbon impact from product consumption. It is a partnership between Onkaparinga Libraries and Sustainable Onkaparinga.