What's more punk than ... a sewing machine?

You probably already use your library card to check out books, but did you know you can also borrow a sewing machine, a caulk gun, or even outdoor string lights?

It’s true — thanks to D.C. Public Library's Tool Library, which kicked off last summer. So far, the most frequently checked out items have been a stud finder, a moving dolly, a staple gun, a folding table, and folding chairs, said Jo Percell, manager of The Labs at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, where the Tool Library is located. 

In fact, DCPL has a bunch of non-book resources you can use either on-site or at home. Here are some of the more unconventional services the library offers.

Sewing, Digitizing, and Podcasting

If you don’t want to carry a whole sewing machine home from the library (fair), you can also make an appointment to use one on-site at The Labs in the MLK Library’s basement. You can reserve one of the three sewing machines in the Fabrication Lab for two hours at a time. 

“The sewing machines are wildly popular,” Percell said. In 2025, DCPL visitors made 1,806 reservations to use them.

Hannah Whitman, a resident in Ward 1, found the sewing machines a couple of years ago when she attended a meetup for creatives at The Labs. This summer, after a tutorial from a staff member, she started using them to alter her thrift store finds.

After showing her how to thread the machine, the staff member “quizzed me in a way that was really helpful,” she said. “He gave me a few pieces of paper that were already printed out and ready to go that had different designs on them, and he watched me thread the machine on my own [and] sew along the dotted lines.”

Visitors who use the Fabrication Lab’s sewing machines or the Cricut and heat press (which can cut and press vinyl decorations) always receive a basic introduction from a staff member during their first appointment. Visitors can also make appointments to use the lab’s 3D printers and laser cutters (recent projects include Dungeons & Dragons figures, jewelry, or parts for a robotics competition), though these require a longer introductory course. For those looking for a more social crafting experience, The Labs have events like Quote on a Tote, craft kit giveaways, and the Creatives Club meetings that Whitman attended. 

There’s also a Memory Lab where users can digitize older media like photo negatives, slides, VHS tapes, and even floppy disks. It’s one of The Labs’ most popular services, with reservations always “booked no matter what,” Mathew New, a library associate who works at The Labs, said. There’s also an audio recording studio, popular with visitors making podcasts.

Movies, Music, and More

There’s also a lot you can do with your library card from the comfort of your own home. One of the most searched-for features on DCPL’s website is its Washington Post Digital subscription, said April DeRome, DCPL’s electronic resources librarian. It’s a convenient way for federal workers, who lost their free Washington Post subscriptions when the newspaper ended them around October 2024, to keep reading. DCPL also has a free New York Times Digital subscription available, and patrons can use PressReader to access recent issues of newspapers and magazines like The Economist.

Use of DCPL’s Libby app (formerly known as OverDrive) started to skyrocket in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic as D.C. residents used the app to check out digital books, audiobooks, and magazines. Kanopy, a free movie and TV show streaming service available through DCPL’s website, also gained a lot of new viewers.

If you’re making a big purchase soon, DCPL can help with that, too. You can search Consumer Reports for product reviews or use Consumers’ Checkbook for reviews of local services, as DeRome did when she had to replace her water heater.

DeRome thinks some of DCPL’s more underutilized digital resources are NoveList, which has book suggestions for adults and kids; Creativebug, which has video classes for different crafts; and Freegal Music+, a free (and legal) music streaming service.

“We have a lot of power users on Freegal,” DeRome said. “The users that use it use it a lot.” 

Even so, she thinks Freegal is “underutilized for how great it is.” Freegal has no ads, unlimited streaming, and an app so users can listen to music on their phone. It also allows users to download three songs a week to their personal devices.

What The 51st’s Readers Are Saying

When we asked about the unexpected services at DCPL, our readers had a lot to say. Multiple people wrote about using The Labs’ sewing machines, booking DCPL meeting and study rooms, printing up to 20 pages per day for free, watching movies on Kanopy, using The Labs’ dance studio, and getting their passports renewed at MLK Library’s Passport Acceptance Office.

Paige Handley, who lives outside of D.C., said she finds using Mango Languages through DCPL “a lot more useful than Duolingo.” A Ward 7 resident said she likes the braille services at MLK Library’s Center for Accessibility and the American Sign Language classes at multiple branches. Two DMV residents told The 51st that they’re currently enrolled in and absolutely loving DCPL’s Five-Minute Horror Filmmaking Workshop.

“The instructors are responsive and helpful,” wrote workshop member Lauren Fletcher. “Also, the filmmaking program is free!” (Registration is full for the current workshop, but you can email elaine.pelton@dc.gov to register for the next one and watch short films from past workshops here.)

Many respondents, like Adriana Martínez of Ward 5, listed several different things that they’ve used DCPL for. Adriana wrote about using the library to print resumes for job interviews, rehearsing in the dance studio for the Latinx Movement Festival, and joining a Latinx writing group. She added that her husband has used the Memory Lab to scan photo negatives.

At the end, Martínez wrote: “My life (and my husband's) has been positively impacted by the library, and it has been a conduit for my being able to find community in D.C.”