Yelp is a great website where you can read and share reviews of local businesses, organizations, and restaurants. Founding Tool Library Committee Stacey Hendricks recently wrote this about The Tool Library:
DISCLOSURE NOTICE: I'm a founding member on the steering committee of the WPTL- With that shocking admission I must also state that I'm a regular member who uses the library to help keep up with work on and around my house.
Tool Library--It sounded pleasantly odd when I first heard those two words together. Good, but abnormal, like chocolate syrup in orange juice (try it and you'll know what's up.) The West Philly Tool Library is just what it sounds like- A place in West Philly where members come to borrow tools. You don't even have to be a resident of West Philadelphia, that's just where it's located. It is a non profit organization fiscally sponsored by the GPUAC, and supported by members and many public and private funders. Several hundred members have paid $20.00 to join for a year, or $200.00 for a lifetime membership. About a thousand different tools were in the collection at last count. From a screwdriver to a circular saw to a 40' extension ladder there are a lot of ways to get a job done. To be a member one has to provide a couple of references, read and sign a few forms, and pay-up. All those details can be found on the website,
http://www.westphillyt..., or the related blog.
It's currently open Saturday 9am-2pm, Tuesdays and Thursdays 6:30pm-9:30pm
I really have meant to explain my experience using the library, which has been consistently awesome. I haven't had to check out one of the big ladders yet, but this Spring I will, and I won't have to pay a fee for a few hours at the rental place, and scramble to get done to avoid a penalty. Rushing on a ladder is not a lot of fun. There are no per use charges for tools at the WPTL, and loans are for one week. Get it back in time though as there are fines for not returning tools, just like a book library-other folks may need the hammer drill as well. I wish it had existed when I first moved to Philadelphia 10+ years ago, the painting tools that I bought to fix up my first dumpy apartment got left on the curb when I downsized to a smaller place. I could have borrowed them and bought better paint, or donated them to the WPTL when I was done and gotten a tax write-off. I could have also borrowed a screw-gun to hang some shelves instead of making due with milkcrates. Oh well, it's here now and when It warms up and I need a weedwacker to clean up my yard, or a wheelbarrow to haul some compost I know where to go.
I've also sat in on some of the home repair classes that are offered, and learned some new ways to get things done. Volunteering with community groups that borrowed tools for cleanups and work days has made me feel pretty swell inside too. The truth is the tools are great but for me the best of it is the many lovely, like-minded, but curiously diverse friends that I've made.
Old houses around the city were complicated technological marvels of their time, that with very basic maintenance can last for a few hundred years. They're still complicated, take care of as much as you can yourself. If you need a tool that you don't have be sure to check out the West Philly Tool Library. Try it and you'll know what's up!
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