Library of Things
Borrow board games, tools and equipment with your student ID.
How To Use
Supporting the WNMU community beyond the classroom!
The Library of Things provides access to shared resources that encourage creativity, exploration, hands-on learning, and community engagement. Browse the collection to discover items available for checkout through Miller Library.
Who is eligible to check out materials?
Items in the Library of Things Collection are available for currently enrolled WNMU students who pay student fees.
Games are available for all patrons to use in-house, but only enrolled students can check them out to take home.
Please note that consumable supplies required to use items in the collection are not included.
Users are responsible for obtaining these supplies on their own, although library staff can recommend where to purchase them.
Loan Periods:
Students may check out up to 2 items at a time for a 1 week loan.
One renewal is allowed.
Check outs are first-come, first serve ; we do not allow holds on items in this collection.
Items must be returned clean, in good condition and with all included parts.
Lost or Damaged Items:
Lost or damaged items checked out from the Library of Things will be billed to the user as are other fees owed to the university.
Non-payment may result in blocks to registration, transcript requests and application to graduate.
Have a Suggestion?
We’re always looking for new items to add to the collection. If there is a tool, game, piece of equipment, or other item you would like to see available, please contact us at
reference@wnmu.edu.
Explore the collection and discover how Miller Library can support your work, hobbies, projects, and everyday needs.
Game Collection
Board games can be used in-house by all patrons or checked out by students.
The collection is located on the Main Floor in the cabinet with the electric fireplace.
The Board Game Collection offers a variety of games for entertainment, social interaction,
and community building. Whether you’re looking for a quick game between classes, a fun
activity with friends, or a new strategy game to explore, the collection provides
opportunities to relax, connect with others, and enjoy time away from coursework.
Browse the list below to see the board games currently available for checkout.
Game rules and how to play
- Players
- 2+
- Time
- 20 min
- Theme
- Strategy, Classic Game, Family Game
- Mechanics
- physical removal, stacking and balancing, single loser game, bluffing
Description
Jenga is a tower building game, where there is a single loser.
Rules of play
Jenga is played with 54 wooden blocks; each block is 3 times as long as it is wide, and slightly smaller in height than in width. The blocks are stacked in a tower formation; each story is three blocks placed adjacent to each other along their long side, and each story is placed perpendicular to the previous (so, for example, if the blocks in the first story are pointing north-south, the second story blocks will point east-west). There are therefore 18 stories to the Jenga tower.
Once the tower is built, the person who built the tower moves first. Moving in Jenga consists of taking one and only one block from any story except the completed top story of the tower at the time of the turn, and placing it on the topmost story in order to complete it. Only one hand at a time may be used to remove a block; both hands can be used, but only one hand may be on the tower at a time. Blocks may be bumped to find a loose block that will not disturb the rest of the tower. Any block that is moved out of place may be left out of place if it is determined that it will knock the tower over if it is removed. The turn ends when the next person to move touches the tower, although he or she can wait 10 seconds before moving for the previous turn to end if they believe the tower will fall in that time.
The game ends when the tower falls in any significant way — in other words, any piece falls from the tower, other than the piece being knocked out to move to the top. The loser is the person who made the tower fall (i.e. whose turn it was when the tower fell); the winner is the person who moved before the loser.
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- Players
- 1-12
- Time
- 20 min
- Theme
- Party, Family
- Mechanics
- Cooperative Game, Dice Rolling, Pattern Recognition, Storytelling
Description
Throw the dice, and create a story starting with “Once upon a time…” using the nine symbols on the faces of the dice. Then, follow your imagination!
Rules of play
If you’re short on ideas,
think of your favourite film, book, or TV show. What could happen to your favourite characters in another time or place?
You’re free to interpret the symbols
They can represent different things for everyone, and the first idea you have is often the right one
If you’re nervous,
just go for it. There are no bad interpretations, and there’s no such thing as a bad story. Beyond being a game, Rory’s Story Cubes is an experience, a shared moment with your loved ones!
- Players
- 2
- Time
- 30 mins – 2 hours
- Theme
- Strategy, Classic Game
- Mechanics
- Strategy, Tactics
Description
Chess is an abstract strategy game that involves no hidden information and no elements of chance. It is played on a chessboard with 64 squares arranged in an 8×8 grid. The players, referred to as “White” and “Black”, each control sixteen pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns. White moves first, followed by Black. The game is typically won by checkmating the opponent’s king, i.e. threatening it with inescapable capture. There are several ways a game can end in a draw.
The recorded history of chess goes back at least to the emergence of a similar game, chaturanga, in seventh-century India. After its introduction in Persia, it spread to the Arab world and then to Europe. The rules of chess as they are known today emerged in Europe at the end of the 15th century, with standardization and universal acceptance by the end of the 19th century. Today, chess is one of the world’s most popular games and is played by millions of people worldwide
Rules of play
Chess is a two-player, abstract strategy board game that represents medieval warfare on an 8×8 board with alternating light and dark squares. Opposing pieces, traditionally designated White and Black, are initially lined up on either side. Each type of piece has a unique form of movement and capturing occurs when a piece, via its movement, occupies the square of an opposing piece. Players take turns moving one of their pieces in an attempt to capture, attack, defend, or develop their positions. Chess games can end in checkmate, resignation, or one of several types of draws.
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- Players
- 2
- Time
- 30 mins – 2 hours
- Theme
- Strategy, Classic Game
- Mechanics
- Strategy, Tactics
Description
Checkers, is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve forward movements of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. The term “checkers” derives from the checkered board which the game is played on, whereas “draughts” derives from the verb “to draw” or “to move”
Rules of play
Checkers is played by two opponents on opposite sides of the game board. One player has dark pieces (usually black); the other has light pieces (usually white or red). The darker color moves first, then players alternate turns. A player cannot move the opponent’s pieces. A move consists of moving a piece forward to an adjacent unoccupied square. If the adjacent square contains an opponent’s piece, and the square immediately beyond it is vacant, the piece may be captured (and removed from the game) by jumping over it.
Only the dark squares of the checkerboard are used. A piece can only move forward into an unoccupied square. When capturing an opponent’s piece is possible, capturing is mandatory in most official rules. If the player does not capture, the other player can remove the opponent’s piece as a penalty (or muffin), and where there are two or more such positions the player forfeits pieces that cannot be moved (although some rule variations make capturing optional). In almost all variants, a player with no valid move remaining loses. This occurs if the player has no pieces left, or if all the player’s pieces are obstructed from moving by opponent pieces.
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- Players
- 2
- Time
- 20+
- Theme
- Classic Game
- Mechanics
- Strategy, counting, bluffing, single loser game
Description
Mancala is a family of two-player turn-based strategy board games played with small stones, beans, or seeds and rows of holes or pits in the earth, a board or other playing surface. The objective is usually to capture all or some set of the opponent’s pieces.
Versions of the game date back past the 3rd century and evidence suggests the game existed in Ancient Egypt. It is among the oldest known games to still be widely played today.
Rules of play
Most mancala games have a common gameplay. Players begin by placing a certain number of seeds, prescribed for the particular game, in each of the pits on the game board. A player may count their stones to plot the game. A turn consists of removing all seeds from a pit, “sowing” the seeds (placing one in each of the following pits in sequence), and capturing based on the state of the board. The game’s object is to plant the most seeds in the bank. This leads to the English phrase “count and capture” sometimes used to describe the gameplay. Although the details differ greatly, this general sequence applies to all games.
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- Players
- 3-10
- Time
- 30 mins
- Theme
- Deduction, Party Game
- Mechanics
- Score and Reset Game, Targeted Clues, Turn Order; Progressive
Description
What hue do you think of when we say “apple”? Hues and Cues is a vibrant game of colorful communication where players are challenged to make connections to colors with words. Using only one and two-word cues, players try to get others to guess a specific hue from the 480 colors on the game board. The closer the guesses are to the target, the more points you earn. Since everyone imagines colors differently, connecting colors and clues has never been this much fun!
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Rules of play
First, a “cue giver” hides a specific color they’ve chosen out of a deck of cards. There are 480 shades on the board in front of you! After getting one- and two-word cues, everyone places their marker on which color they think is being described. “Coffee.” Is it dark brown, as in freshly brewed? “Au lait.” With milk. That means I should pick a lighter shade!
Use examples from everyday life, from nature to pop culture, or materials and moods. Everyone around the table gets a turn to give cues and guess. The better your hints or guesses, the more points you earn. Play off others’ experiences to narrow down what they have in mind!
How to play Video
Hues and Cues Instructional How-to Video
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- Players
- 2-4
- Time
- 50-60 min
- Theme
- Word, Board
- Mechanics
- Vocabulary, Spelling, strategy, anagramming, counting, bluffing, probability
Description
Scrabble is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a game board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words that, in crossword fashion, read left to right in rows or downward in columns and are included in a standard dictionary or lexicon.
Rules of play
All 100 tiles are placed into an opaque bag. To decide which player plays first, each player draws one tile from the bag. The player who picks the letter closest to “A” goes first, with blanks taking precedence over the letter A. Each player then draws seven tiles and places them on their rack, hidden from other players.
On every turn, the player at turn can perform one of the following options:
- Pass, forfeiting the turn and scoring zero.
- Exchange one or more tiles for an equal number from the bag, scoring zero. This can only be done if 7 or more tiles remain in the bag.
- Play at least one tile on the board, adding the value of all words formed to the player’s cumulative score
The first play of the game must consist of at least two tiles and cover the center square (H8). Any play thereafter must use at least one of the player’s tiles to form a “main word” (containing all of the player’s played tiles in a straight line) reading left-to-right or top-to-bottom. Diagonal plays are not allowed. At least one tile must be adjacent (horizontally or vertically) to a tile already on the board. If the play includes a blank tile, the player must designate the letter the blank represents; that letter remains unchanged for the rest of the game unless the play is challenged off.
The game ends when either:
- One player has played every tile on their rack (“playing out”) and no tiles remain in the bag (regardless of the tiles on the opponent’s rack).
- At least six successive scoreless turns have occurred and either player decides to end the game.
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Puzzles
We have several community puzzles places throughout the library that everyone is welcome to solve!
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Home & Auto Equipment
The Home & Auto Collection provides practical tools and equipment to help with everyday household maintenance, basic repairs, and vehicle emergencies. Whether you need a jump starter, jumper cables, power tools, or other useful items, these resources are available to support students with temporary access to equipment they may not own. Browse the list below to view the items currently available for checkout.
Hobby Equipment
The Hobby Equipment Collection includes creative tools designed for crafting, personalization, and do-it-yourself projects. Whether you’re creating custom decals with the Cricut Joy, applying heat-transfer designs with the Cricut EasyPress, or producing buttons for clubs, events, or personal use, these resources help bring your ideas to life. Browse the list below to explore the hobby equipment currently available for checkout.
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WNMU Miller Library is a Federal Depository Library.