By Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


The Brighton District Library is highlighting new services in the New Year as well as some unique collections.

In addition to eliminating overdue fines for most materials, the library is offering new electronic services. That’s in addition to popular items such as mobile hotspots, Chromebooks, Kindles and a “Library of Things” collection for people to acquire new skills or explore areas of interest.

Director Cindy Mack tells WHMI the latter is a great collection of interesting items that most people don’t need on an average basis but might want every once in a while and the library has them to check out. She says it’s a non-traditional collection of a variety of items that are available for patrons. Some include a sewing machine, ukulele, guitar, a mini cricket machine, a trail camera, and games and puzzles. The check-out period varies depending on the item but averages about one week.

Mack says they’re also excited to have introduced some new services for electronic access to library materials over the last few months. She says kanopy is a video streaming service with more than 30,000 feature films, documentaries, educational videos and TV shows that patrons can download from the library’s website.

The Library also offers the service Tutor.com. Mack says following struggles during the pandemic and kids getting back to learning environments, they wanted patrons to be able to access quality tutors. She says the site offers instant access to great tutors with personalized sessions on different subjects.

Mack says their newest service that started up in January is called Creative Bug, which is focused on crafts and creating things. It offers over 1,000 video courses on topics like knitting, cake decorating, quilting and sewing.

Mack added they’re very fortunate the community has continued to use their resources and services, even in the pandemic. She says they feel confident they’re able to adapt accordingly but are also providing services their patrons want and need.

Since technology is ever-changing, Mack says there are resources out there for anyone with questions or who might be struggling to access something. She says people can have a librarian walk them through something or even schedule a session with someone to help with more advanced technology questions – adding there are many great resources out there and the library wants to be that technology connection.

More information is available on the library’s website. That link is provided.