The Tool Lending Library

Sometimes all you need is the right tool for the job. Next time you’re in need of that one specific piece of equipment, instead of heading to the closest hardware store, stop by the Durango Tool Library where you might find exactly what you’re looking for. You are watching the Local News Network brought to you by Happy Pappy’s Pizza n Wings and the payroll department. I’m Hannah Robertson. Tenny Webster and Kathleen Gollner started the Durango Tool Library in November, 2021 after moving to Durango from Canada. They had been part of a tool library and wanted to share the convenience and useful nature of a library for all sorts of tools with the Four Corners area.

We were actually members of a tool library in Vancouver when we were students. And, yeah, we used it all the time. We lived in a tiny apartment, it was less than 200 square feet. We had no room to acquire tools, let alone money to acquire them with. And the tool library was a fantastic resource for us. It allowed us to get access to tools that we wouldn’t otherwise have been able to get to do various repairs or construction in our apartment and what have you. And when we moved here, it just seemed like we were living in an apartment again, and it’s like we don’t really have the space to accumulate stuff. Feels like other people in this area have maybe a similar need to access tools and just felt like maybe it was worth trying here. That might be a model that works for people here as well.

The premise of Durango Tool Library is simple. If you need a tool for a project, you can check to see if the tool library has what you need. And if it does, then you can check out the tool for a week. A monthly membership starts at $25, or $230 for a year. And as of now, there’s no limit to the number of tools you can check out over the course of your membership.

We started out with, I guess, six or seven different categories of tools. We’ve got carpentry and woodworking, we’ve got some baking and cooking tools. We have some sewing tools, bicycle repair, ski and snowboard repair. We’re starting building out the gardening and landscaping collection, but we’ll kind of hit that harder in the springtime. Oh, and then we have general repair, so like ladders.

Anything that doesn’t fall in any of those other categories yet. You can come in, and if there’s a tool that’s always checked out, you can let us know either through the website through a short questionnaire, or with us, and we’ll work on getting another tool, exactly the same kind of tool. That is the trade-off to any library, including the public library. Some really good recent books may be checked out or put on hold for weeks and months on end. And we understand that, and that’s kind of the trade-off with this model. But we’re going to do whatever we can to kind of accommodate people if they really need these tools.

Gollner and Webster want the library to be something that is useful to the community and makes things more accessible. Larger tools that require more storage space aren’t always convenient for individuals living in smaller houses or apartments, and sometimes specific tools are needed only once for a project and can cost more money than it’s worth. In addition to providing the tools for a project, Gollner and Webster will also help with the basics of learning how to use the inventory, and they would like to start offering workshops as the weather gets warmer later this spring.

I do like the local resource aspect of it. It’s building a community resource that Durangoans and folks from the surrounding area can help build. By contributing member fees, you contribute to our ability to build a collection.

And shape it, for that matter.

And shape it, define what tools we get. And then you’re helping to support a resource for the whole community to use.

To learn more about the Durango Tool Library and to browse their selection of tools, visit durangotoollibrary.com. Thank you for watching this edition of the Local News Network. I’m Hannah Robertson.