Tools of the Trade

A new lending collection at Pacific Grove Library helps home cooks embrace their inner Top Chef

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARGAUX GIBBONS

There’s a seemingly endless array of kitchen gadgets and devices in the world these days—simply scrolling through a cookware website is enough to make even the savviest home cook feel both tempted and overwhelmed.

All that excess can be paralyzing, however. Should I spend money on, say, a sous vide cooker or an Instant Pot? But how much should I spend, and what brand do I choose? How do I know if I’ll even like cooking with it?

Happily, a new lending collection at Pacific Grove Public Library might just make these choices a little easier.

Earlier this year, the library introduced a collection of cookware and kitchen tools that can be checked out by cardholders, in what seems a perfect way to try out some more exotic pieces of kitchenware, like an air fryer or the aforementioned sous vide machine.

The collection can also be an avenue to borrow simple things like a roasting pan or cookie cutters, items that perhaps are needed only once or twice a year, says library director Diana Godwin.

Some 40 kitchen tools and kits are available on a rolling metal rack, everything from a 10-piece sushi-making set to a deep blue tajine, an earthenware vessel used to make the savory Moroccan meat and couscous dish of the same name. There’s a dumpling maker, a pasta machine, a rice cooker and a food mill, just to name a few of the available items, each packaged in a see-through tote that includes instructions, tags like “WASH BEFORE RETURNING,” and a library barcode. The rack is conveniently kept next to a selection of cookbooks, a pairing sure to inspire.

On the top shelf, an array of cake pans can be found, one of which is butterfly shaped—completely apropos for this library in Butterfly Town, U.S.A.—but there are other kid-friendly options too, as well as a Bundt pan and basic round pans suitable for making traditional layer cakes.

The cooking tools and cookware can be checked out for 14 days at a time.

Godwin says the idea of the cookware lending collection was sparked when there was a little leftover money in the library’s budget that needed to be used. She and her staff brainstormed on what else the library might want to offer. Unusual lending options are not new to the Pacific Grove Library, which also has a collection of framed art prints and maps available to borrow.

Kitchen tools eventually won out over other lending suggestions, and staffers tested out some of the more unusual cooking items, discarding those that didn’t seem practical. “We did get rid of the things that didn’t clean very easily,” says Godwin.

The kitchen collection has been popular with families, teens and anyone who wants to try something new and different. “It’s ideal if you want to experiment with using an air fryer, but don’t necessarily want to buy one,” says Godwin.

The cooking tools and cookware can be checked out for 14 days at a time, although anything that’s powered by electricity is only available to adults 18 and older, who must sign a waiver to use it. At this point, Godwin says, there’s no plan to add to the collection, but there’s always the possibility of future additions.

This “Library of Things” concept has been kicking around for the past decade, yet it isn’t as prevalent as one might imagine. It’s part of a larger movement of sharing that mingles community with the idea of buying and using fewer items, which is beneficial for the environment. Although intriguing lending collections can be found at several libraries around the Monterey Bay region, the Pacific Grove branch appears to have the only local kitchen tools library; others can be found in Livermore, Sacramento and the Bay Area.

Pacific Grove also shares a catalog with Monterey Public Library, which allows patrons to borrow everything from ukuleles and night-viewing telescopes to state park passes and STEM science kits.

Monterey Public Library launched a seed library in 2014, which offered free vegetable seeds to patrons under the guidance of administrative assistant Francesca Garibaldi. Unfortunately, the project was put on hold during the pandemic due to staffing and funding issues, although Garibaldi says she hopes it will return next year.

In the meantime, cooks of all stripes and experience can have fun playing with the kitchen offerings at Pacific Grove Library, the ever-popular tortilla press and ice cream maker among them.

Pacific Grove Public Library
550 Central Ave., Pacific Grove
pacificgrovelibrary.org