This has been a busy year for the newly formed Guelph Tool Library. We have managed in a very short time period to put together an interesting selection of tools, set up our location (123 Woolwich Street), develop our website/database and begin lending out tools.
As our library is made up almost exclusively of donated tools, I have had the opportunity to go out and meet many different people. It has been an interesting an enjoyable experience meeting the many donors and hearing their stories about the tools and appliances they are giving us. Some tools have come from people that are downsizing or moving away, others have come from families that are clearing out the estates of their family members. Some people are just no longer using the tools and want them to go somewhere that they can be put to good use.
We found out quickly that their are lots of rakes floating around out their so we have a great collection of various sizes and shapes! Some of the donations have been spectacular such as the almost new table saw donated in the spring and a propane smoker! Some donations have been much smaller but all have been welcome and helped us build up our inventory of tools (we have over 200 in our database).
Susan Carey, another of the Coordinators of the Guelph Tool Library, has a great philosophy on our tools. Susan says that “people don’t necessarily want a drill, they want a hole.” Our goal is to facilitate our members getting their hole, or their garden roto-tiled, or their tomatoes crushed, and so on. So we have drills, rototillers, and tomato mills among the many tools and appliances to lend out.
So please keep us in mind if you have some tools that you don’t use or are thinking about upgrading. We even accept some broken tools as we have some community partners (JD Small Engines – http://jdsmallengines.ca/) and talented volunteers that can repair them. I am looking forward to meeting many more or you and hearing your stories.
Submitted by John Dennis,
Guelph Tool Library Coordinator