Our block's tool library started with 6 drills in a garage 3 years ago

Three years ago me and two neighbors on Oak Street in Boise started a little tool share out of my garage, just 6 drills and a beat up ladder on a clipboard sign out sheet. Last week I counted 61 items checked out, everything from a tile saw to a post hole digger, and a guy I never met returned a chainsaw with a fresh chain on it. What got me is a note he left saying he fixed his mom's fence with it. We still run it on paper and a group text, no app, no fees, and I kind of hope it stays that way. Anyone else run a neighborhood tool share, and how do you handle the stuff that comes back broken?

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kevinc8425d ago

The broken stuff thing is the real test of whether a tool share lasts, and paper plus a group text actually handles it better than people think. We do the same thing and the rule is simple: you break it, you tell the group, then you either fix it or you cover the repair. Last fall a guy burned out the motor on our good circular saw and just dropped off a replacement from a pawn shop the next weekend, no drama. What makes it work is that nobody wants to be the guy who hides a busted tool in the bottom of the bin. The paper log is key too because you can look back and see who had it last, which sounds like a pain until you actually need it. And that note about the fence is the whole point, right there.

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