It’s time for tool libraries to go global
Tool libraries have the potential to simultaneously decrease material usage and increase access to material goods, both of which are needed if we are to create a more equitable and ecological society.
Tool Libraries
The Revolutionary Power of the Real Circular Economy
Based on principles and practices of resource use reduction, sharing, conviviality, solidarity, and mutual aid, the Brisbane Tool Library can be considered a small-scale laboratory for a reorientation of society towards degrowth.
Lending and Community Building at The Thingery
Diplock sees a distinction between The Thingery and much of the recently monetized sharing economy, however, especially rental services. “The big line in the sand is, is accessibility and inclusivity a key part of the social purpose? Is that present in the business charter?”
How Learning to Share Again Cuts Waste, and Makes more Resilient Communities
The Share Shed is a library of things in the town of Totnes in the southwest of the UK (also home to the Transition Town network). People can donate useful items to the library – like ladders, drills, carpet cleaners, camping, cooking and gardening equipment, and sewing machines – and others can borrow them for an affordable fee.
How Libraries of Things Build Resilience, Fight Climate Change, and Bring Communities Together
Libraries of Things are both starting to expand to multiple locations, and also connecting with other similar or complementary organizations to form local and regional networks.
Q&A with Erin Gautsche of West Philly Tool Library
The West Philly Tool Library was founded in 2007 to help make home repairs and maintenance more accessible and affordable for local residents. The library offers more than 4,000 tools to its more than 2,600 members, who pay for membership on a sliding scale.
In Vancouver, Shipping Containers are the New Tool Libraries
This spring, Vancouverites may find renting a set of camping equipment as easy as borrowing a book from the library. The Thingery project is a recent initiative launched by Vancouver Tool Library founder Chris Diplock.
New Sharing Depot Opening Reflects Success of Toronto’s Library of Things Movement
The Toronto Tool Library in Ontario, Canada, is a model tool lending program. With four locations and a variety of workshops and community events, it is a pioneer of the lending and sharing movement.
The Library of Things
The Library of Things movement is emerging in communities around the world.
Edinburgh Tool Library: Creativity, Community, and Cutting Resource Use
Running out of a Dr. Who-style police box near the city’s docks, the Edinburgh Tool Library has been going since early 2015 and now has 1,200 tools, 180 members, and is growing fast.
Sacramento’s Library of Things Shares More than Books
What if the next time you needed a sewing machine, or screen printer, or even a GoPro camera, you just went down to your public library and borrowed it?
16 Tips to Crowdfund a Tool Library In Your Town
“It’s amazing to see how positively people react to the idea of a tool library, and crowdfunding provides the ideal way to get the word out and raise money to get one started. Crowdfunding provides a way for communities to gauge support, and if that support is there—which it often is—it gives them the momentum and resources to hit the ground running.”