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.

We're hiring!

That's right, the Tool Library is seeking a paid 10 hours/week tool coordinator to staff the Tool Library. Check out the job description by clicking here:

http://www.westphillytools.org/tool_coordinator_job_description.pdf

If you're interested in applying, please do so quickly. We're hoping to expand our hours in May. (And if you know someone who might be interested, please pass the job description on to them!)

The Tool Library is also seeking a few people to sit on an ad-hoc hiring committee to interview applicants for the paid tool coordinator position and make hiring recommendations to the Steering Committee. We imagine that the Hiring Committee will meet approximately three times within the next two months. It's a great way to become more involved in your tool library. If you're interested, please email Stacey Hendricks, the volunteer coordinator, at werkzeugmann@hotmail.com.

The Tool Library is the news

The Tool Library has received some great press lately. Read (and listen!) to the stories at the links below:

Philadelphia Inquirer (3/21/08)
KYW 1060 Newsradio (with additional audio) (4/5/08)
Southwest Globe Times (3/27/08)
City Paper (3/13/08)

A Great Grand Opening!

Over 150 neighbors and friends came to take a look at the Tool Library at yesterday's Grand Opening and eat a lunch catered by our friends from the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia (USP.)

A slide show of photos from the Grand Opening is below.

Great story in the City Paper

The Grand Opening gets some good press in this week's Philadelphia City Paper. (Although contrary to the article, we do have a great sign out front on our facade.)

Be sure to stop by this Saturday, March 15, from 12 noon to 5:00pm and enjoy food and fun and borrow one or more of our 350+ tools!

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Come celebrate our Grand Opening!

We've been "unofficially" open since last September. But now that Spring is around the bend, we're having our Grand Opening. So come say hello and enjoy food and fun at our open house on Saturday, March 15, from 12 noon to 5:00pm.

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