Seeing the need for a community tool library, a group of residents, along with West Mt. Airy Neighbors (WMAN), is getting the ball rolling on the idea.

The Northwest Tool Library will sit in a shipping container, located at WMAN’s Mt. Airy Echo Lab next to Carpenter Station at 310 Carpenter Lane.

The project will allow anyone to borrow available tools for at-home, personal, or work-related projects they otherwise can’t afford, lack access to, or simply do not want to purchase for a one-time use.

“The tool library is a great resource because a lot of times people, whether they’re homeowners or renters, want to do some sort of project, and it might require a specialized tool, and going out and buying that specialized tool to use once can be a big barrier,” RL Martens, a Germantown resident and one of the organizers, told the Local.

With the location in place, the next step is gathering the tools needed to open the library.

On May 3, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the volunteers will hold a tool drive at the Echo Lab, seeking donations to fill the library. They’re seeking new and used handheld, medium-sized tabletop tools, ladders, automotive tools, and gardening/landscaping tools.

“Our biggest constraint right now is just the size of the space that we have,” Martens said. “I would say things in good condition, and then things that aren’t too big, like, unfortunately, I don’t think we could take a lawnmower right now, or like a wheelbarrow.”

Anyone interested in the “wish list” of items to donate can visit Linktr.ee/nw.tool.library.

How it got started

Martens said that groups of neighbors discussed the idea of a tool library in local Facebook groups before a small group formed.

“We have a pretty good core group of neighbor volunteers right now, but we’re still soliciting other people who are interested in organizing the project with us,” Martens said. “Since last spring, there’s been a lot of interest. But of course, with any sort of project you’re trying to get off the ground, people have different, you know, abilities for time commitment, et cetera.”

As more neighbors showed interest, additional volunteers joined the effort. Among them is Renee Byer, a Mt. Airy resident and electrician working on an apprenticeship.

“I own my rowhome, and I’m still in my apprenticeship, so I’m not making that much money yet, and when I want to work on something at my house, the tools get expensive,” Byer told the Local. “Sometimes the one tool that you need is a few hundred dollars or even $50, or you need five tools, and they’re $25 each, and then you use it once, if it’s a specialty tool, and then when are you going to pick it up again?”

Byer thinks the “community-minded” nature of Northwest Philadelphia could lend to this project. She thinks the demand is there as well.

During the process of organizing the library, WMAN got involved and offered the space.

“WMAN has been building our greening/sustainability hub at the Mt. Airy EcoLab for the past few years. We’ve created a tree nursery, orchard, community garden beds, a free seed library, meditation space, perennial pollinator propagation gardens, and have been dreaming of adding a tool library,” Jo Winter, executive director of WMAN, told the Local. “While this idea was always in the back of our minds, a few years ago, I was contacted by a neighbor whose partner passed away, leaving behind an entire workshop of tools. She wanted to see them put to good use for the community, so I held them in my own shed in the hopes that we could make the tool library a reality.

“We were finally able to leverage a grant to purchase a shipping container to get the project started with tree tending equipment and Tim’s tools. Around the same time, the chatter started back up online about neighbors’ desire to share tools, so we convened a small meeting, and [Martens] has been kind enough to take the reins in keeping the momentum going. This is exactly the kind of effort that WMAN loves to support: community-driven and sustainability-focused.”

With the upcoming tool drive, the organizers still need to figure out how the library will operate once it’s opened.

“All the details have not been nailed down, but I think we would start out with having, maybe a couple times a week, open hours where a volunteer librarian was there to check tools in and out,” Martens said.

Anyone interested in volunteering can email nw.tool.library@protonmail.com for more information.