Acacia Thompson went to the second-floor storage room at her job and grabbed a hammer drill so she could demonstrate how to use it.
But Ms. Thompson doesn’t work at a hardware store. She’s a librarian.
It was May 2024, the Brooklyn Public Library’s Greenpoint branch had recently opened a small tool library and word had begun to spread. On this day, Ms. Thompson recalled, she helped a woman who wanted to hang some pictures on a brick wall.
“She held the drill and said, ‘I can do this,’” Ms. Thompson said. “It was very meaningful. It’s akin to saying, ‘I love this book’ or ‘I can recommend another book for you.’ It’s empowering people with information on how they can take care of things on their own.”
For both renters and homeowners, the desire to spruce up their living quarters has only grown since pandemic lockdowns spurred people to channel their newfound downtime at home into D.I.Y. projects.
But purchasing a power tool for a one-time repair job, let alone figuring out where to store it, can be impractical for those on tight budgets and limited space. And repairing the tool when it breaks down is almost impossible.
Enter your local library. It’s not the first place that comes to mind for most people who want to channel their inner carpenter. But a library’s mission is to promote lifelong learning, and accumulating a repository of jigsaws, caulking guns and angle grinders and instructing the public how to use them are essential parts of that, said Cindy Hohl, the president of the American Library Association.
“Literacy comes in all forms,” Ms. Hohl said. “If you’re learning a life skill and you want to become literate in a profession or a hobby, you have to access the tool to learn the trade.”
The concept of lending tools is not new. One of the nation’s earliest tool library arose out of necessity as certain items became scarce during World War II and members of the Grosse Pointe Rotary Club in suburban Detroit donated spare yard equipment and cookware.
Several other Midwestern communities established similar holdings, but the idea became more widespread in the late 1970s after the library in Berkeley, Calif., received a $30,000 federal grant to purchase about 500 tools and store them in a portable trailer. Today, it has nearly 4,200 in a permanent building, according to Jill Tokutomi, the supervising librarian with the system’s South Branch.
Soon libraries added a mix of hand tools and gardening implements to their lending collections, which can also include small kitchen appliances, toys, folding tables, musical instruments and even telescopes.
By 2021, more than 50 tool libraries were in operation across the country, according to one study. Several have opened in recent years, including community-run nonprofits in Chicago and Detroit that charge an annual membership fee to use their stockpiles.
Using one is as easy as obtaining a library card. Each library has slightly different policies, but, for the most part, patrons can put a hold on items by going online or visiting in person and borrow them for about a week, as long as they return them clean.
Berkeley had more than 30,000 checkouts in 2024, said Mx. Tokutomi. The most popular tool this time of year is a string trimmer, also known as a weed wacker, which people use to clean up their lawns. The library has about 30 of them and they usually have two-week holds on them since they’re so in demand.
“We could have double that amount and those would all be checked out,” said Mx. Tokutomi.
The Brooklyn tool library had about 1,000 tools checked out in its first year in operation. One of its most popular tools was an oscillating multi-tool, which people have used to remove paint and grout and for sanding and scraping in narrow areas.
There are also more eccentric uses. In Mansfield, Conn., a patron borrowed the library’s magnetic fishing kit, a 65-foot braided rope attached to a giant magnet with 1,000 pounds of pulling force, to retrieve a screwdriver their son had thrown into a pond, said Kaithlin Epling, a systems librarian there.
Tool libraries fit seamlessly into the modern sharing economy, where hiring a ride for a trip to a bar or reserving someone’s apartment for a vacation stay is a click away. The stigma of borrowing a power tool instead of purchasing a pricey new one has long since faded thanks to online platforms like Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist. And the popularity of home renovation shows, maker spaces, and YouTube repair hack clips has inspired remote workers who sit and stare at a screen 40 hours per week to grab a saw and build a new shelf.
But using a power tool for the first time can still be intimidating. Fortunately, libraries offer hands-on sessions that teach D.I.Y.-enthusiasts how to use the tools in their stockroom. Berkeley Public Library has held culinary workshops with a retired chef and hosted a mobile bike clinic to show cyclists how to maintain their vintage wheels. In February, Brooklyn’s Greenpoint branch hosted a woodworking workshop with two retired artists who demonstrated how to use the library’s orbital sanders and routers.
“We have several generations of people who weren’t taught any skills of how to do things but they might not want to bite the bullet and buy the thing,” said Rebecca Cowley, assistant branch manager at the Greenpoint branch. “Watching a video of someone using it is a lot different from trying it out and doing it yourself.”
Some libraries have even planned large-scale events that promote buying less equipment while also strengthening their communities. This spring, the city of Detroit partnered with a nonprofit that manages tool libraries to provide rakes, shovels and string trimmers for neighborhood cleanup projects. And the Chicago Tool Library, which has 8,000 members, regularly holds free repair fairs where residents can bring torn clothing, bikes and worn-out appliances that skilled volunteers will try to fix.
“There’s a different energy around sustainability and now people are much more aware of that,” said Tessa Vierk, executive director of the Chicago Tool Library. “It’s always better to repair something than go out and buy something new.”
One key advantage libraries have over hardware stores and big retailers is privacy. They’re not using borrowing history to entice patrons to use or buy another product.
“We don’t need to know your business, we just want to empower you to do the things you want to do,” Ms. Thompson said.
The post Need a Tool for a Home Project? Get Yourself a Library Card. appeared first on New York Times.
