08/18/2026
PRESERVE YOUR SUMMER BOUNTY WITH THE COOS BAY LIBRARY
Do you spend all year looking forward to the variety and flavor of summer fruits and vegetables? Store some of the summer’s bounty away for the rainy season by checking out our food preservation tools for free at the Coos Bay Public Library (CBPL).
Beginner and veteran canners alike will find what they need to get started in our Library of Things collection: a special collection of physical objects like tools, kitchen appliances, and electronics available for check-out at CBPL. If you’re canning low-acid foods such as red meat, poultry, seafood, vegetables, and soups, you can rest easy knowing your preserves are pathogen-free by using our 23-quart pressure canner kit. Learn more by checking out Kenneth Oster’s book ‘The Complete Guide to Preserving Meat, Fish, and Game’ from CBPL’s nonfiction collection!
Whether you’re making sweet jams, savory chutneys, or tangy pickles, a water bath canner is the tool you need to preserve high-acid foods, sauces, and toppings. Consider our boiling water canner or check out Marisa McClellan’s book ‘Preserving by the Pint’ to learn more about how to make and store flavorful sauces and spreads!
We also have other tools to help you process fruits and vegetables for canning, including our apple peeler, electric juicer, and steam juicer. The steam juicer is perfect for making large batches of juice to turn into syrups, jellies, or canned juice while the electric juicer is great for juicing smaller batches of produce that you plan to drink fresh or add to smoothies or cocktails. Avoid waste and hand cramps while peeling this year’s apple harvest by using our apple peeler, perfect for making apple sauce or apple butter.
If canning isn’t your jam, consider checking out a food dehydrator. This amazing tool can be used to make delicious, dried fruit chips, fruit leather, yogurt drops, and so much more! Whether you prefer sweet snacks or savory jerky, dried herbs, or tasty treats for Fido, these machines are simple to use with inspiration and ideas aplenty online and in our collection. Check out Julie Mosier’s book, ‘The Dehydrator Cookbook for Outdoor Adventurers’ or sample one of my personal favorite treats by dehydrating watermelon into a delicacy that tastes like sweet, chewy watermelon candy. Also consider drying citrus slices to make all-natural fall and winter decorations!
But we’re not done yet! The library also has specialty items like a fermentation crock and bread maker, perfect for making sauerkraut or kimchi to can or delicious homemade bread to freeze. If all these ideas sound like too much for your stove, we also have a portable induction burner to give you some extra surface area to operate the water canner or steam juicer.
Make your dreams of juicy peaches, delicious jellies, or venison jerky a reality with food preservation equipment from CBPL’s Library of Things! This collection is available for free to anyone with a standard Coastline Library Card who signs a Library of Things agreement. We hope you make use of these amazing resources to savor your favorite summer flavors all year long!
