Journal

Avid reader or not, most of us are familiar with the concept of a library. You go in with your membership card, find a book that you want to read and borrow it. But what if it wasn’t just books? What if there were also libraries for tools and gardening equipment, party and camping gear, kids clothes and toys? 

Good news – there are! The emerging Libraries of Things (LoT) movement is making it increasingly possible for people to borrow important but infrequently used items – like electric sanders, hedge trimmers and gazebos. And with good reason. Research shows the average drill gets used for less than one hour a year, so why should everyone who needs one have to buy one? That’s a lot of expense upfront for something that gets used so little, not to mention the storage and the maintenance.

Proponents of tool libraries are quick to point out their many benefits. In 2022/23 London’s Library of Things project saved residents £326,000 from hiring not buying – an important contribution to the cost of living crisis by anyone’s standards. They also prevented 64 tonnes of waste from going to landfill and saved 124 tonnes of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere.

Then there are the social benefits – many LoTs are co-located with other important community facilities, including book libraries and local retail outlets, resulting in extra footfall to those spaces. Others offer skillshares and repair services, helping residents meet others and build their confidence in their ability to tackle household projects.

Libraries of Things are thus a fantastic contribution to circular and regenerative economies because, research shows that, while improved recycling and zero waste manufacturing processes do have a role to play, the only true way to tackle the environmental and social consequences of waste is to reduce the amount of items we manufacture in the first place. An economy that’s based on borrowing rather than ownership for items that we use infrequently fits the bill perfectly.

So how does this work in practice? LoTs can be found all across the world and take many different formats, from very informal arrangements where groups of neighbours use WhatsApp or other messaging platforms to share tools and resources, to bolt-ons to existing services: many traditional libraries have started lending board games and jigsaws in addition to books.

It is also possible to find specialist hire services dealing with one type of item. For example, here in North Lancs, Morecambe Bay Slings helps parents use, try and borrow a range of baby carriers – an ideal solution given that babies grow fast and many new parents lack confidence in using slings. Equally, a fledgling network of Sew and Sow libraries across the District allows people to easily swap and borrow small items that they might need for crafting or gardening.

However, in terms of projects offering a wide range of items, London’s Library of Things project identifies three broad kinds of project: 

• Self service lockers which allow customers to book online then collect and return to the lockers, which tend to be located in accessible community locations such as libraries, reuse hubs or shopping centres. This setup has proved popular in London.
• Combined share and repair DIY hub models where hire services are located alongside a repair shop and/or makerspace. Examples include the Edinburgh Tool Library or Share & Repair in Bath.
• Share Shed or Shop – these can be mobile/pop-up in character and tend to operate with donated items. Examples include Share Shed (Devon).

Each of these models has its own advantages and disadvantages and it’s important to choose the type of setup that best suits your community, as what works well in a busy urban area does not necessarily translate to a small rural community. Equally, projects vary considerably in terms of the range of items they hire and how hires are paid for, with some libraries focusing more on a member scheme, while others work on more of a ‘pay per hire’ purchase. Some schemes also allow people to pay with their time – for example, by volunteering at the library in exchange for hires. 

Either way, hire fees do not generally cover costs, so research on UK LoTs shows that business models tend to be quite diverse. Many libraries operate as charities or social enterprises which allows them to access additional income from grants and donations. In addition, projects often rely heavily on volunteer time and free or very low cost access to premises from which to operate. This is important in terms of reducing costs but it can also become a risk to the project if volunteers burn out or the free space becomes needed for other purposes.

In summary, LoTs are wonderful but require a lot of groundwork to get them established and running smoothly – think insurance, maintenance, finding the right software and PAT testing, to name just a few things!

Thankfully there are some great resources online to help groups get started, including this blog from the Edinburgh Tool Library which is packed full of advice for newbies. Meanwhile, groups such as Benthyg Cymru in Wales and the London Library of Things project offer a range of services including advice and consultancy to local authorities or community groups wanting to start a project. 

So what’s next for North Lancashire? Are there other great examples of sharing or hiring projects that you’d like to see celebrated? If so, why not add them to our Directory so others can benefit from learning about them?