By Casey O'Brien, Shareable
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?”
By Rapid Transition Alliance Staff, Rapid Transition Alliance
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.
By Tom Llewellyn, Shareable
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.
By Paige Wolf, Shareable
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.
By Ruby Irene Pratka, Shareable
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.
By Cat Johnson, Shareable
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.
By Cat Johnson, Shareable
The Library of Things movement is emerging in communities around the world.
By Make Resources Count Staff, Make Resource Count
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.
By Cat Johnson, Shareable
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?
By Cat Johnson, Shareable
“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.”
By Cat Johnson, Shareable
No longer just places to get a drill when you need one, tool libraries are neighborhood hubs offering classes, community building spaces, workshops and a variety of tools ranging from belt sanders to lawnmowers and more.
By Rob Hopkins, Transition Culture
Here is a wonderful story from Seattle. I am indebted to Susan Gregory and Leo Brodie for their time in telling me about it. In North Ravenna, NE Seattle, a rather exciting project has emerged from Sustainable NE Seattle, the local Transition initiative. Inspired by a similar project in West Seattle, the NE Seattle Tool Library opened to the public last month, and already has over 1,100 tools available for local people to hire. Members pay an annual membership and can then borrow tools for a week at a time. The Tool Library is housed in a building belonging to a local church which was renovated using a grant from a local recycling company.