Posted on Leave a comment

The Crow is Leaving the Nest

coordinator

Guelph Tool Library is becoming an Incorporated Not-For-Profit Organization

The Guelph Tool Library is pleased to announce that it is becoming an incorporated not-for-profit organization commencing Thursday August 1, 2019.  The project began in August 2016 and has expanded to a full service tool library with over 375 members, 700 plus tools and appliances in inventory, and nearly 4000 loans completed.

The Guelph Tool Library began as a project of Transition Guelph and started from a need identified through the work of Susan Carey and Transition Guelph’s Urban Food Working Group.  Carey found that with these projects, she was helping people to grow and harvest food but that many of the tools and appliances were out of reach for new gardeners or those with limited resources.  She says that the idea “ was to provide a community resource that was easily accessible, had a good selection of appliances and tools, and affordable.”

Carey founded the Guelph Tool Library with John Dennis and Saba Saneinejad.  The project began modestly and grew through the support of our members, volunteers, and the community.  Grants and support from our partners, the City of Guelph, the Province, and the Federal Government have allowed the Guelph Tool Library to grow. The Guelph Tool Library is now open five days a week and averaging over 100 loans per week.  Dennis says that “we knew we were onto something as everyone we told about the Guelph Tool Library thought it was a great idea and had ideas on what we should acquire for our inventory.”

Critical to the growth of the Guelph Tool Library has been the bi-monthly Repair Café Guelph organized by Saba Saneinejad.  Saneinejad brought the idea of the Repair Café from Toronto and ran the first Repair Café in August 2016. She says “I loved the idea of fixing and repairing broken and damaged items that would normally just be thrown away.  There are many talented people in Guelph who we have been fortunate to have as volunteers at the Repair Cafés. In addition to fixing the items visitors bring, they teach them basic repairing skills. Repair Cafés are fun days involving fixing things, building a community and protecting our environment. ”  Since the beginning, the Repair Café Guelph has served over 1000 people and diverted over 3000 kilograms of waste from the landfill.

Focusing on the idea of repairing, repurposing, and waste reduction has become the central theme of the Guelph Tool Library.  Led by Zero Waste Coordinator, Stephanie Clarke, the Guelph Tool Library has been running a series of classes focusing on zero waste.  Supported through an Ontario Trillium Foundation Grant, the programming will culminate with a Zero Waste Festival on Saturday August 10 at the Victoria Road Recreation Centre.  Clarke says “since September, we have been running a workshop series that allows participants to cut down on waste and creatively reuse everyday items, all while learning about how waste is processed in our city and beyond. Our programming provides the community a chance to actively participate in the recycling and reusing process, and demonstrate the importance of careful consumerism.”

The Guelph Seed Library which is housed at the Guelph Tool Library will be part of the new organization.  Started by Lisa Conroy in 2018, the Guelph Seed Library is a collection of mostly locally grown seeds where anyone can “borrow” seeds for free. The goal being to grow the plants and return a similar quantity or more to give back to the seed library for the next year.  Conroy says “the Seed Library is grateful for the support Transition Guelph gave us to start up and is looking forward to our ongoing partnership with the Guelph Tool Library.”

The Guelph Tool Library’s move away from Transition Guelph will allow it to continue to run new and innovative programming while working towards gaining  charitable status. Guelph Tool Library Coordinator Emily Duncan says that “Transition Guelph was critical for us as we started but we have reached a point where we need to take the next steps on our own.  It will allow us to respond quicker to our members and decide the direction of the organization. We are excited about the possibilities that this presents and we look forward to continuing to serve Guelph through our programming”.

Posted on Leave a comment

Shape Your Tool Library!

random infographic edited

Our resident librarian is at it again!

Brandon is conducting an innovative new type of research to inform us about how the tool library can improve.

Would you like to do an information horizon interview???

Sound cool? It is! The whole process takes less than 30 minutes, it’s wicked fun, and your input will shape the next steps the tool library takes in growing Guelph’s sharing economy. All you have to do is email Brandon and express an interest. He’ll meet up with you during one of his tool library shifts or at a time of your choosing. We’ll only be collecting interviews for the next two or three weeks, so if you’d like to get involved don’t delay!

“Am I eligible to participate?” you ask. All you need to be is..

  • someone who has used a tool library at least once (and it doesn’t need to be Guelph’s)
  • an adult from a non-vulnerable population
  • willing to part with 30 minutes of your time for a VERY worthy cause!

So don’t delay and shoot Brandon and email to get more details.

Posted on Leave a comment

Special Libraries Exhibition @ UofT

images

I had the opportunity to showcase the Guelph Tool Library at my practicum student exhibition last week. The event also took place at the University of Toronto iSchool alongside the Special Libraries Canada conference also happening at that day. I spoke to dozens of people about the challenges and solutions we’d encountered in providing this service in Guelph, and got some amazing ideas about how to take things to the next level in the New Year.

Here is a link to the digital version of my poster presentation for those in library land who might be interested in reading it. This is the very same PDF that went out to about two dozen library professionals at the exhibition who signed up to receive it!

Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

–Brandon, Librarian @ Guelph Tool Library