Seattle volunteers run a library that lends more than 2,500 tools to neighbours
The Southeast Seattle Tool Library, run entirely by volunteers since May 2015, lends members more than 2,500 tools for home, garden, woodworking and car projects. It was founded to serve the most diverse part of the city, where many people have the skills to fix their homes but not always the means.
Why buy a power washer you will use twice? In Southeast Seattle, people can borrow one. The Southeast Seattle Tool Library is a lending library and small workshop where members can borrow more than 2,500 tools, from hedge trimmers and power washers to specialty saws. Some larger shop tools stay in the library's garage for members to use during open hours.
The library was founded by Sally Bailey, who after a career managing non-profit organisations saw the need for a tool library in Southeast Seattle, the most diverse area of the city, where many people have the skills to maintain and improve their homes but not always the means. Bailey led a small group of volunteers who opened the library in May 2015 with more than 1,200 donated tools and a workshop space.
It is still run entirely by volunteers. They include a cabinetmaker who teaches at Seattle's Wood Technology Center, a retired Seattle Parks gardener who sharpens and repairs tools and advises on garden projects, and a bike mechanic who has volunteered since 2015 and now serves as director.
One volunteer, Tom Payne, came to the library every day it was open from October 2017 until his death in February 2018. He donated hundreds of tools and taught many members to use power tools safely, and a corner of the workshop now carries a sign in his honour.
The library says borrowing saves members money and reduces the environmental impact of buying tools.
Sharing tools lets neighbours fix their own homes for less and wastes fewer resources.
Source: About Us (SE Seattle Tool Library).
Written by the HappyGood desk from the primary source linked above and checked against it. Every story links its source. Corrections: [email protected].
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