It’s time to start thinking beyond books when it comes to your local library.

All over the country libraries are expanding their collections to offer both fun and practical items to borrow, and the Bucks County Free Library is no exception.

By providing uncommon items like telescopes and ukuleles, people have the opportunity take what they’re reading and experience them first hand, explained Holly Ambrose, collection management director for the Bucks County Free Library.

“Our goal in the beginning was to satisfy curiosity for both children and adults. We wanted to offer different things you might not think of or might not know about,” Ambrose said.

In starting out its non-book collection, the library initially focused on educational toys and cooperative board games, but has since grown its catalog over the years to include hundreds of items — from stud finders and musical washboards to ladder ball and telescopes. 

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Whether spurring interest in a new hobby or providing a useful tool for a weekend project, Ambrose said the collection has been helpful to their patrons in a number of surprising ways.

“We have metal detectors which someone borrowed from us to find a lost wedding ring in his backyard. It worked out and he found it,” she said.