West Philly Tool Library marks first anniversary

In the midst of rebuilding her bathroom, Jimmi Badger was ready to lay tile, but she needed more tools: a what-do-you-call-it, a thingamajig - you know, one of those doohickeys. She went to the West Philly Tool Library for help.

"I need one of those . . . I don't know what it's called. Scrapers that have little teeth to put tile down," Badger told tool coordinator Eric Rivera.

That was all Rivera needed. Within minutes, Badger left with a mastic spreader and an assortment of other items she needed for her project.

"We had to gut our bathroom, and we could never have put it together without these guys," said Badger, 31, who got her membership to the tool library as a Christmas gift and has been back to borrow items every week since. "It's one of the reasons I love this neighborhood, because things like this happen. It's what makes this place home."

When the tool library opened last year, it carried about 50 tools. Now it has more than 1,000. It has hundreds of members who pay either a $20 yearly fee or a $200 lifetime fee for weeklong access to everything from gardening tools to power equipment to 40-foot extension ladders.

"We just gave a chain saw to a woman who doesn't need a chain saw every day - hopefully. You need it for a few hours a year," said tool library board member Stacey Hendricks. "It makes a little more environmental sense to have 100 people using one table saw instead of each of them spending a couple of hundred bucks on one."

The library, at 4620 Woodland Ave., celebrates its first anniversary today, with a tool drive from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Snacks will be served.

The library, Rivera said, "promotes both community sharing and self reliance, which aren't things you can always put together."

Badger, for instance, has borrowed power tools and guide books and has helped herself to free items like paint and switch plates. Before she left, Hendricks gave her some tiling tips about waterproofing the room and using a grout float.

"Do you know how to tile?" he asked.

"I'm about to find out," she said.

The first tool library is thought to have opened in Berkeley in 1979, and about 20 others are scattered around the country. The West Philly Tool Library is thought to be the only one in Pennsylvania. (Each library operates independently under different guidelines.)

"If you still want to work on your house and you can't hire a contractor now, this is the way to spend more on materials and save on the tools," Hendricks said.

Home Depot spokeswoman Jennifer King said that while the company doesn't track attendance at its teaching clinics, anecdotal evidence suggests the number of do-it-yourselfers is growing.

"We have seen more customers coming in and asking about projects and if they can do them themselves and how to do them," she said. "You get a lot of those kinds of questions, and that prompts an impromptu clinic in the aisles as our employee walks the customer through something."

The tool library also offers free classes on a first-come, first-served basis. Hendricks had this simple advice for those first-time handypersons: "If it doesn't seem like a good idea, don't do it."

On a recent Saturday afternoon, Cappy Harrison only needed a shop vacuum for some basement cleanup, so she spent $20 on a membership instead of spending more cash buying a new machine or renting one from a for-profit company.

"It fits in well with West Philly and the food co-op and the community sensibility," said Harrison, 41, of the tool library.

Erin Engelstad, 27, came in to return a mini-vacuum, a drain snake and various painting tools. She recently bought a house around the corner from the library.

"It's fantastic because I don't have to buy all my tools, and they have things like ladders and stuff like a drain snake that hopefully I don't have to use again."

Surprisingly, there hasn't been a problem with tools disappearing beyond a missing drill bit here or there. Tools kept longer than a week garner a fine of $1 a day for each day the library is open. (Right now, that's three days a week: Thursday evening, Saturday and Sunday. One borrower kept a soil compactor for two months, balked at the fine, and hasn't returned since.

"The tool library works great for people who are able to cooperate," Hendricks said.

Indeed, the tool library is a true cooperative effort: The space it occupies is provided free of charge by the landlord. A nearby lumber company provided wood for the volunteers to build shelves and a desk.

A sign maker came up with the logo and donated the signs.

In exchange for a membership, a local artist created prayer flags with designs of tools that hang from the ceiling. Friends of Clark Park allows the library to lend its collection of shovels and rakes as long as they're available for the group's annual cleanup days.

On a sheet on the wall, patrons can list tools they'd like to see the library carry or improvements they'd like made.

Some items scrawled on the list - such as an orbital floor sander or a jackhammer - might not be very user- or house-friendly, so Hendricks doesn't know how likely it is the library will carry them.

Those items also aren't very bicycle friendly. A bike rack outside the rowhouse that houses the library is a repeat request on the list. Many library patrons ride off on two wheels balancing hammers and saws.

As Rivera said: "They're surprisingly creative."