It's not often people get excited over new items being lent out at the Toronto Public Library, but they've promised something big is coming.

The TPL is following the lead of other libraries and has said on social media that they will begin lending out CO2 monitors.

These monitors let you measure the ventilation in a given space, an especially useful tool while there are still concerns about the safety of poorly ventilated spaces.

Carbon dioxide monitors were available at Peterborough Library starting April 1, and they've been booked solid since then.

Since starting at @ptbolibrary in April every single machine has been booked out straight w/ waiting lists! Lots of good air monitoring happening here! Glad to see @torontolibrary starting & hope other libraries will too to improve equity on accessing CO2 monitor info. https://t.co/y6DveQ7Yqt

— Dr Thomas Piggott (He/Him) (@twpiggott) June 21, 2022

At the end of March, the TPL tweeted that they'd been contacted by organizations wanting to donate monitors and said they'd keep people updated.

Someone already wants to use the data that could be collected using these monitors to help in their mission of creating a CO2 reading and reporting map.

People have already been paying the idea forward, from Peterborough to Toronto and now in places like Ajax, Mississauga, Hamilton and even Calgary, with the libraries responding positively.

First @ptbolibrary then @torontolibrary, over to you @calgarylibrary....will @cityofcalgary be the next city in Canada to offer a CO2 monitor leading program?

— Jennifer Haverhals (@Jrhaverhals) June 20, 2022

Even someone as far as Melbourne picked up on the idea.

@melblibrary lending co2 monitors and air quality monitors is something you should do too

— Better Masks 4 Melbourne (@maskupmelb) June 20, 2022

The CO2 Monitor Lending Program should commence at Toronto Public Library in mid-July. The final details of the program are being worked out and the library should be sharing more informaton on July 11.