How much easier would it be to do those small home repairs, if you could just borrow tools from the local library, instead of bothering your neighbor for the 93rd time? Hey, you could even do a little street repair! (I kid.) From Utne reader comes the following:
"If you need a tool in Santa Rosa, you get in touch with Dustin Zuckerman. He's a junior college librarian by day. The rest of the time he's running the Santa Rosa Tool Library from his apartment. Make editor Dale Dougherty writes about Zuckerman's project:
Zuckerman set up his lending library by purchasing circulation software used by small libraries ... "It's good to think like a librarian in setting up a tool-sharing service," he says ... Users register online with their driver's license or ID to borrow a tool. There are no fees for borrowing, but you have to sign a borrowing agreement ... More women than men use his lending library, including a handful who have little experience with power tools. He spends time giving each person a tutorial in how to operate the tools, and provides goggles and earplugs, plus a hard hat, if needed. "I'm not an expert on tools," he says. "I just try to learn the basics so I can pass it on."
A list of tool lending services in three countries and 15 American states lists the Berkeley Tool Lending Library, which opened its dopors in 1979, as the pioneer.
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