Circulating Kit Program for Libraries and Schools

Book Club Kits, Storytime Kits, LEGO/DUPLO Kits, & Indiana Escape Experience Kits

The Indiana State Library’s Indiana Young Readers Center provides five types of kits for use by public library youth librarians and teachers across the state of Indiana: Book Club Kits, LEGO Kits, DUPLO Kits, Storytime Kits, and Indiana Escape Experience Kits.

Book Club Kits for Kids & Teens

Book Club Kits are designed for public library book clubs but can also be used for small reading groups at schools.

• Book Club Kits contain 15 copies of each title and a discussion guide.
• Spanish Book Club Kits contain 30 copies of each title and a discussion guide.
• Book Club Kits check out for 90 days.
• You can reserve up to 24 Book Club Kits per month.
• No back-to-back reservations of the same kit.

LEGO & DUPLO Kits

LEGO and DUPLO building helps develop early literacy and STEM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) skills through play and adult interaction.

• LEGO kits contain hundreds of LEGOs, a handful of bases, and many mini-figures.
• DUPLO kits contain hundreds of DUPLO blocks for play as well as activity guides.
• LEGO and DUPLO Kits can be checked out for 90 days.
• You can reserve up to 6 Lego and Duplo Kits per year.
• No back-to-back reservations of the same kit.

Storytime Kits and Big Idea Storytime Kits

All storytime kits come with activity guides that suggest how to use kit materials as well as suggestions for incorporating the Five Practices of the Every Child Ready to Read @ Your Library program into your storytime. Big Idea Storytime Kits have additional math and science elements. The kits feature hands-on activities created by the Vermont Center for the Book’s Mother Goose Programs as well as books and a guide to help plan your storytime. You can add “Big Idea” to the search box in LibCal to see only those kits.

• All Storytime Kits can be checked out for 60 days.
• You can reserve up to 8 Storytime Kits per month.
• No back-to-back reservations of the same kit.

Indiana Escape Experience Kits

Included in these kits is (almost) everything you need to host escape experiences at your library based on Indiana history and featuring primary source documents. After you have made your booking you will get a confirmation email with a link to the instructions for your kit, including a detailed video explaining every aspect of your kit experience. If you are unfamiliar with our Escape Experience kits, we encourage you to watch this introductory video. Indiana Escape Experiences are sponsored in part by the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Midwest Region Program, located at Illinois State University. Content created and featured in partnership with TPS Midwest Region does not indicate an endorsement by the Library of Congress.

• Escape Experience Kits can be checked out for 60 days.
• You can reserve up to 2 Escape Experience Kits per year.
• No back-to-back reservations of the same kit.

General Guidelines

Shipment of Kits:  Please be aware that all Indiana State Library kits are shipped via the INfoExpress courier system.  If your school or library is not part of this service, please work with the closest public library who does use INfoExpress to book your kits.  Kits can only be used in Indiana.

Available Titles and Kits: A complete list of kits is available in the LibCal reservation system. See “Reserving Kits,” below to access it.

Lost items:  Borrowers assume responsibility for items lost or missing from kits. We ask that the borrower replace the item with a new or gently used version of the original. Contact youngreaderscenter@library.IN.gov for more information.

If you have questions or encounter any issues, please contact us at: youngreaderscenter@library.IN.gov or at 317-232-3700.

Teachers

• Indiana teachers may also use this system.
• If your school uses INfoExpress, you may book the kits yourself.
• If your school does NOT use INfoExpress, ISL requests that you work with your public library to book your kits:
  • ISL’s preferred method is that you ask a public librarian to book the kits for you.  This is the easiest way to keep the public librarians in the loop when booking, and the best way to ensure that confusion is avoided and you receive your kit in a timely manner.
  • However, teachers may book their own kits if they include their public librarian’s name when they reserve the kit, i.e “Teacher’s Name/Public Librarian’s Name.” Additionally, all reservation confirmations and shipping notifications should be forwarded to the public library contact by the borrowing teacher. More details on how teachers can reserve their own kits is included in this instructional video: https://youtu.be/mmfBA6kYctE.

Reserving Kits

Book Club, LEGO, DUPLO, Storytime, and Indiana Escape Experience kits can all be reserved via a system powered by LibCal.

1. First, watch a video for an overview of how to reserve. Watch the long video for a detailed explanation of the system and procedures. Watch the quick version for a snappy overview.

2. Then, go here to reserve your kit.

3. Remember to add two weeks to the front of your reservation to account for shipping.

If you have questions or encounter any issues, please contact us at: youngreaderscenter@library.IN.gov or at 317-232-3700.

Additional Book Discussion Resources

Shared Book Discussion Resources List

This database is a listing of book discussion/club resources owned by and located at public libraries throughout Indiana. If your library has book discussion kits that you would like added to this list for sharing, please email youngreaderscenter@library.IN.gov and include the name(s) of the book discussion kit(s), number of books (indicate also if regular or large print) and other identifying information. The Indiana State Library assumes no responsibility for lost or damaged materials nor for problems which occur with the booking, delivery, or return of materials.

Novel Conversations

The State Library endorses Novel Conversations, Indiana Humanities' statewide lending library open to any Indiana library or civic book club. They lend more than 950 titles, primarily fiction and biography, to reading and discussion groups at libraries, senior centers, schools, and other organizations, free of charge. Books include classic titles such as Fahrenheit 451 and To Kill a Mockingbird, as well as contemporary titles such as The Help and The Time Traveler’s Wife. Novel Conversations titles are deliverable via INfoExpress.

Visit http://www.indianahumanities.org/programs/novel-conversations/ to take advantage of this great service.

INBookClub Listserv

IYRC SW 3-25-2025