Boston Library Offers Free Life-Sized Puppets
The Puppet Free Library provides hundreds of handmade characters for public use at the Emmanuel Church.
Updated on Sept. 29, 2026 in Puppetry
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The Puppet Free Library in Boston maintains a collection of 300 life-sized puppets available for public loan. Housed in the basement of the Emmanuel Church, the organization encourages residents to use these figures for performances and street activism.
Why it matters
By loaning out these puppets, the library aims to demystify complex ideas and provide community members with accessible tools for public art. The initiative seeks to inspire creative expression and encourage individuals to take performances directly into the streets.
The library manages an inventory of 300 life-sized puppets constructed from recycled materials. These figures are made using hospital sheets, plastic byproducts, and photography paper.
The players
Sara Peattie
She is the head and a co-founder of the Puppet Free Library who began her work in the field during the 1960s.
George Konnoff
He is a co-founder of the Puppet Free Library who helped establish the collection currently housed in Boston.
Emmanuel Church
Located in the Back Bay neighborhood, this church provides the basement space that has served as a center for puppeteering since the 1960s.
The details
Co-founded by Sara Peattie and George Konnoff, the library operates without a formal housing arrangement within the Emmanuel Church. Visitors borrow the puppets by simply signing their names and contact details into a ledger kept on-site.
Timeline
Puppeteering groups began using the basement space in the 1960s.
Sara Peattie began her puppetry education during the 1960s.
Industry Dynamics
The library extends the legacy of the 1960s underground street theater movement by providing accessible puppets for modern public activism. This approach reflects a shift toward using community-based resources to demystify political and social concepts through performance art.
Residents can access the puppet collection simply by visiting the church and signing the library ledger. This low-barrier process allows individuals to integrate large-scale puppets into their own street-level performances or community projects.
The takeaway
The Puppet Free Library demonstrates how simple, recycled materials can be transformed into powerful tools for public expression. By removing the financial barriers to high-quality performance props, the organization empowers individuals to engage in creative advocacy.
Further reading
Learn more about the local arts scene in Puppetry.
Source note: This article includes information reported by 105.7 WROR.
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