This project aims to explore the mechanisms by which people relinquish items into the communal custody of a Library of Things (LoT), an organisation which curates, maintains, and repairs appliances and equipment for its members' use for a nominal fee. LoT's have the potential to promote community cohesion through shared ownership, reduce climate anxiety through addressing issues of waste and manufacture, and give access to otherwise unavailable resources. By exploring the reasons given for donating to libraries, and the ties which may still connect people and the objects they donated, whilst seeing them in the context of the library (community ownership), we aim to uncover possibilities for helping individuals and families struggling with overwhelming possessions, whilst increasing support for LoT's and promoting an alernative to hyperconsumption. In particular, the potential to address problems of letting things go, in cases of compulsive hoarding.
An image of hands sharing a gift. One is holding it, another supporting, and a third unwrapping
A creative approach to discovering how people make the decision to share their possessions with the community through donating them to a library of things
The primary objectives of this project are:
- To identify push and pull factors to letting go of possessions into the common ownership
- To uncover the role of story in holding on to and letting go of possessions
- To explore how objects can connect people to their social sensibilities.
About the project
The LIbrary of Stuff is a community interest company in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, UK. I am a Director at the library and an independent researcher, with an interest in things and their involvement in human relations.
The Library of Stuff CiC is more than just a lending library. We also accept donations and repair items – a key difference from many other Libraries of Things (Baden et al., 2020; Library of Stuff CiC, 2023). This allows people to declutter and let go of items with emotional value, knowing they’ll be reused. Donations also foster community connections (Baden et al., 2020). Studies show that this community-driven model is essential for the long-term success of LoTs (Deflorian, 2023). By connecting people through donated and borrowed items with personal stories, we strengthen our local community (Tamburo, 2022).
The Library of Stuff – a building full of useful things you can borrow for a small fee
I work with stories, and I’d like to hear yours. Well, actually, I’d like to hear your objects’ stories. If you have made a donation to LoS in the past (doesn’t matter what or when) then I’d like to hear about it. I’m hoping to understand how people make the decision to donate to the library instead of binning, selling, or giving away things. If we know this, perhaps we can help other people to see their possessions in a similar way to do the same.
There are many reasons why a person might need to let go, such as moving into a smaller house, or dealing with an overwhelming number of possessions. Decisions about letting go can be hard, and they can cause friction in families. I hope we can find some way to make this a bit easier for all involved.
You can see a summary of the effects of hoarding on families here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jpm.12098. If you would like the full text, please contact me: tim@cartographink.uk.
Research phases
The plan is:
December 2024
Documentary analysis of library records of donations and membership to identify any patterns
December 2024 – January 2025
Survey of donors and members to explore reasons for donation and guage interest in the next phase which is:
February 2025
Contact participants interested in further research with detailed information and museum label for object biography*
March -April 2025
Arrange interviews to be conducted at the Library of Stuff premises**
*Object biographies are the life stories of things. A classic study used the first model of Xerox photocopier to explore its life as an office item and later as a historical aretfact in a museum.
The museum label looks like this (completed example, not used in study):
**Interviews will take place at the Library of Stuff. The donated item might be there. If so, it will be included in the interview, with participants being asked to “say hello” to the object and gice their feelings about it now, after they have donated it into community ownership. It might be that the item is no longer at the library, for a variety of reasons. In this case, the interview will still take place there, just without the object.
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Do donors also borrow?
Phase one of BA/Leverhulme funded project The Un-Tiques Roadshow: Letting Things Go kicked off with a review of records of donation and borrowing at the Library of Stuff CIC. Not everyone who donates is a member of the LoS, and of those who are, they don’t borrow frequently (once a month or less in most cases). So what’s going on?
Ever feel guilty about throwing something away that’s still perfectly good? You’re not alone! A recent survey (December 2024 – January 2025) revealed that a whopping 65.4% of donors are driven by the desire to prevent their donations from going to waste. That’s a huge number of people who care about giving their items a second life! While preventing waste is the top motivator, other reasons people donate include the item being too good to throw away (11.5%), environmental concerns (15.4%), and simply needing to declutter (7.7%).
If you have donated an item to the library of Stuff CIC, you can complete the survey here: https://forms.gle/Kxg3EF3BkbJFCpEt9
-
✴︎
Do donors also borrow?
Phase one of BA/Leverhulme funded project The Un-Tiques Roadshow: Letting Things Go kicked off with a review of records of donation and borrowing at the Library of Stuff CIC. Not everyone who donates is a member of the LoS, and of those who are, they don’t borrow frequently (once a month or less in most cases). So what’s going on?
Ever feel guilty about throwing something away that’s still perfectly good? You’re not alone! A recent survey (December 2024 – January 2025) revealed that a whopping 65.4% of donors are driven by the desire to prevent their donations from going to waste. That’s a huge number of people who care about giving their items a second life! While preventing waste is the top motivator, other reasons people donate include the item being too good to throw away (11.5%), environmental concerns (15.4%), and simply needing to declutter (7.7%).
If you have donated an item to the library of Stuff CIC, you can complete the survey here: https://forms.gle/Kxg3EF3BkbJFCpEt9
The Un-tiques roadshow is funded by
British Academy/Leverhulme Trust small research grants –
Project ref: SRG23\230422
