A few months ago I volunteered at a local library to help set up a musical instrument lending service.

Most people traditionally think of libraries as being places to borrow books. While that is certainly still the case, they are increasingly places to borrow just about anything. I have heard of libraries offering crafting stuff (like Lego, knitting), advanced 3d printing to accompany good old fashioned 2d printing, lending of equipment… A library should be able to lend anything out to anyone, so why not musical instruments?

This is great because instruments are very expensive. So if you’re not sure what it is you want to learn, this is a nice free way to try something out and see what is a good fit. As people begin to use it and interest is raised, this should also help to reinforce the usefulness and need for libraries and community centers, at a time when they are at risk of shutting down.

Helping build up the catalogue has been an interesting process:

First, inventory and check all the instruments available. They have been sitting on shelves in a cupboard, so we needed to go through and check that they were all in good condition. Some, such as guitars needed restringing. I’ve never done that before, but now I know how, so that’s a new skill under my belt. Other, such as brass instruments might have been missing their mouthpieces, so that needed recorded and new ones bought in.

Then, photographing. All the instruments need to look pretty and enticing when presented on the library’s online catalogue. Some of the instruments needed a buff and polish first. Once they’re ready, we worked as a group to take photos of all of them. We didn’t have a professional studio to work in, so we needed to use white sheets, rolls of paper, and hand held lights to try and get the best photos. After taking them, we had discovered something unexpected – we could see ourselves reflected in the shiny instruments! It was worse in some of the brass instruments that have quite wide bells, so we needed to re-take those photos. In the end though, I think they turned out quite nicely.

All of the instruments then needed barcoding, so they can be scanned and tracked. This wasn’t too difficult, but it is a fiddly process, and it needs to be exactly right, or else the instruments will get all mixed up when loaned out. We used a spreadsheet online as well as a paper copy to keep track of our work just to make doubly sure that there were no mistakes. Once done, it could be sent off to the library admin staff to enter into the catalogue ahead of the launch.

The instruments are now available to try out at the Jenny Lee Library in Lochgelly, Fife. The catalogue is also available online here. You need an existing library membership and instruments need to be booked in advance to borrow them. Similar projects across Scotland have also been started through the We Make Music campaign, and it’s great that Fife can now join in.