Community Outreach

Spring cleaning? Consider donating to BPL!

By Cindy Hartman, children's department assistant at Bremen Public Library

It’s time to say goodbye to winter and hello to spring! This is the time of year that a lot of us will also be doing some spring cleaning. Sometimes finding something to do with what you no longer want can be just as time consuming as the actual cleaning and sorting process. We are in need of some items that you might be getting rid of at your home. If you have visited the children’s department here at the library, you will notice that we now have toys and different areas for the children to use their imaginations while here at the library. It takes a lot of items to make up the various imagination stations, and you might be getting rid of some of them when you do your spring cleaning.

Here is a list of some suggested items that we could use, while I tried to think of everything, it is not an all-inclusive list. If you have an item that is not on this list that you think we could use, call us at 574-546-2849, or e-mail us at chartman@bremen.lib.in.us and we will be glad to consider your item. We ask that all donations be clean and in good repair please.

Toys

· Toy fishing equipment
· Toy camp fire
· Toy grill
· Plastic toy foods
· Dolls with clothes
· Realistic stuffed animals
· Puppets
· Toy kitchen appliances/plates/cups/bowls
· Cars/trucks/planes
· Plastic insects
· Kid’s pool
· Doll blankets

Clothing Items

· Costumes
· Old uniform shirts
· Lab coat
· Smaller sized adult dresses, suit coats, shirts, fancy party dresses
· Necklaces, clip on earrings
· Smaller sized high heel shoes, men’s dress shoes, work boots
· Old glasses
· Glasses cases
· Fishing vests
· Hats (women’s dress, men’s dress, fishing…)
· Small adult sized bathing suits

Household Items

· Silk flowers
· Plastic vases
· Plastic pots
· Foam pieces used to arrange flowers
· Plastic fruit
· Plastic vegetables
· Baskets
· Small suitcase
· Manual typewriter
· Calculators
· Keyboard
· Wigs
· Wig stands
· Brief case
· Walkie Talkies
· Old cell phone
· Old phone
· Fly swatter
· Sleeping bags
· Old cameras/ video cameras
· Flash lights
· Binoculars
· Picnic basket
· Hand or table top mirror
· Food scale
· Apron
· Tongs
· Spatualas
· Thermos (non-breakable)
· Storage containers
· Eye droppers
· Beach towels
· Bushel basket

Pet Items

· Small sized dog collars/harnesses
· Dog/cat feeding bowls
· Dog/cat brushes
· Small sized dog clothes
· Dog leashes
· Bird cage (empty and cleaned)

Recycled Items 

(EMPTY AND CLEANED PLEASE)
· Cardboard tubes
· Small plastic containers
· Large plastic containers with lids
· Plastic and cardboard packaging
· Bubble wrap
· Small plastic bottles
· Foam pieces
· Large tins or coffee cans
· Cardboard boxes
· Empty sunscreen bottles
· Plastic mesh fruit bags
· Plastic strawberry containers
· Empty make -up containers
· Plastic scoops
· Packing peanuts
· Bubble wrap

Miscellaneous Items

· Child-size lawn chairs
· Small pop-up tent
· Fishing nets
· Scuba masks/flippers
· Canteen
· Plastic Easter eggs
· Pool noodles
· Golf tees
· Small sized tools
· NCR paper
· Stethoscope
· Clip boards
· Wrapping paper
· Tissue paper
· Ribbon (wrapping or regular)
· Corks
· Buttons
· Screws, nuts, bolts and fasteners
· Wood scraps
· Tool belt
· Tool box
· Craft items