I plan to speak to my city council about creating a tool library, where citizens use their existing library card to checkout tools. To make the idea a bit more robust, I’m also planning to require citizens deposit something as collateral when checking out a tool.
However.
I live in Texas (I love Texas). Thankfully my city council is receptive, but I know they’re going to need compelling evidence before approving something like this.
So, if you guys have any advice, or examples, particularly of this kind of system working in the US, I would love to hear about it!
@jeffhykin I have a solid collection of tools I’ve built up over the last decade or so. My two-car garage is a woodworking shop, plus I have basic stuff for electrical and plumbing work. I lend my tools on occasion to friends and family, but I usually go with the tools to help with whatever the project is. That’s obviously not scalable though. It’s not quite what you’re talking about, but I’ve considered a “private library” setup for my tools. Do you have any software suggestions for tracking?
While I don’t know of any software for managing it at the moment, I’m a software engineer and it wouldn’t be too hard to make a site that tracks it. I was already planning on making such a site, so when I do I’ll come back here and let you know!
@jeffhykin Awesome, thanks! If I come across any myself I’ll send them your way. Can’t hurt to see what other systems are doing.