Walking into the Anythink Nature Library in Thornton, Colorado, is a little different from visiting an ordinary library. Along with books, visitors can borrow bird-watching kits, wildlife cameras, hiking equipment, microscopes and other gear meant to help them explore outdoors.
The library opened on Aug. 8, about 20 minutes north of downtown Denver. Anythink calls it the first public nature library in the country.
The 33,000-square-foot building sits on a 15-acre campus next to the 140-acre Aylor Open Lands. Visitors can learn about plants and wildlife inside, then head outdoors to try some of the things they just learned…