Check this out?
People use libraries for different reasons. My wife is almost always in possession of a good book of fiction from the library. I use the library for reference purposes. Whenever I go in the library the bank of computers are all busy with patrons.
Then there is this.
From the Providence Journal we learn of a new program which loans out fishing equipment.
Tucked in among the stacks of books are cabinets stuffed with fishing equipment: rods, reels, tackle boxes, hooks, lures, sinkers and floats. If you fancy taking a youngster or two out for a leisurely day of fishing without an outlay of money to get started, here’s your chance.
All you need is a library card.
Three branches in the Cooperating Libraries Automated Network, CLAN, allow patrons to borrow a full complement of fishing equipment.
That's right, fishing equipment at the library. Do you wonder who borrows the stuff?
The fishing equipment is available year-round, but it’s during the month of May, with spring trout season at its peak and summer just around the corner, that interest begins to surface in borrowing the colorful poles and ready-packed tackle boxes, according to Lynn Blanchette, Coventry library director.
“They get used by parents and grandparents whose kids want to try the sport, but don’t want to invest the money in equipment,” Blanchette says. Boy Scout troops have also come in to check out the rods and reels.
Who paid for the equipment to begin with?
The equipment is provided by The Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association, a nonprofit group based on Arnold Road, in Coventry. The organization is dedicated to sharing fishing techniques, fostering marine conservation and educating young and old about the joys of fishing, primarily through school programs and public seminars.
I find the whole idea a little strange...but then again I found it strange when my hometown library started to loan out knitting needles.
Different strokes for different folks I guess.
Al Arnold
2 Comments
Reader Comments (2)
Pontificator,
You have a library lending fishing poles less than an hour away. The following is copied from the web site of the Rusk County Library in Ladysmith, WI:
Polebenders - Available to children ages 6-14. This program is made possible by the Ladysmith High School Class of '58, who provides and maintains the fishing Poles. Children sign up for a loaner card and they receive a free tackle box that is theirs to keep. They may check out a fishing pole for one week at a time. They must bring in their loaner cards to get a pole, and they are allowed only one tackle box.
I wonder what else is loaned out of libraries around the country?