Basic home repair classes at the Tool Library

The West Philly Tool Library is proud to partner with The West/Southwest Neighborhood Advisory Committee, The Other Carpenter, and The Partnership CDC to offer a summer series on basic home repair.

David Heaton, the Executive Director of The Other Carpenter, will lead four workshops on basic carpentry, electric, and plumbing every Monday in July from 5:30 to 7:00pm at the Tool Library.

Monday, July 7: Carpentry

- understanding board sizes and uses

- understanding framing and finish work

- learning the circular saw and miter box saw

Monday, July 14: Drywall

- understanding sizes and types of dry-wall

- installing dry-wall

- spackling

Monday, July 21: Doors & Windows

- understanding doors and windows

- installing a door and a window

Monday, July 28: Plumbing & Electric

- changing outlets, switches, and an electrical fixture

- identifying parts for and assembling a sink and a toilet

The series costs $20 for all four classes. Participants will receive a certificate for a free one-year Tool Library membership.

Interested? Contact Jessi Averill at The Partnership CDC to reserve your spot. Jessi can be reached at (215) 662-1612 ext 14 or javerill@thepartnershi

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Tool Library expands our hours

We're pleased to announce that the Tool Library has expanded our hours. Starting this week, we'll now be open:

Tuesdays 6:30-8:30pm
Thursdays 6:30-8:30pm
Saturday 9am-2pm

Now there's no need to wait until Saturday to borrow (or return!) tools.

Please welcome Eric, our new tool coordinator

We've been able to expand our hours in large part because we now have a part-time staff person. The next time you're in, please welcome Eric, our new tool coordinator, to the Tool Library. Although Eric's been a member of the Library almost since the very beginning, he's just been hired as our first paid staff. We're elated he's with us.

Slight change to our tool policy

To accommodate our new hours, we've changed our tool policy slightly. Officially, our tool policy used to state that all tools were due the following Saturday. Now that we're open more frequently, all tools must now be returned seven days after they are borrowed. So if you borrow a hammer on Tuesday, please return it on or before the following Tuesday.

Reminder to return on time

Traffic has started to pick up at the Tool Library (as you may have noticed.) In the past, we've been pretty lenient about allowing multiple renewals. But we're going to start becoming more strict. Please return your tools within seven days. If you absolutely must renew, you can do so once by calling or coming in personally to the Library as long as no one else has reserved the tool. If you don't renew, we'll be imposing a $5 per tool fine per day the Tool Library is open. This is consistent with the tool policy that's always existed. Of course, we'd prefer not to fine anyone, so please be considerate of your fellow tool library members.