Jun 1, 2009 5:01 pm US/Pacific
Oak. Tool Library A Savior For Do-It-Yourselfers
OAKLAND (CBS 5) ―
The Temescal Tool Lending Library in Oakland offers more than 3,000 pieces of hardware for house and garden. From bow saws to fruit pickers, to weed wackers, and wrenches, it's a frugal fixer-uppers fantasy land.
Ty Yurgelevic is one of the founders, and helped get the library off the ground. He said demand for tools is up 5% to 10% in the down economy. He says customers come in for tools they know they'll only use once in a great while, or to test out a particular brand, or just find something that's missing from their tool boxes. Yurgelevic said even paid contractors are coming in to get the pieces they need for their jobs.
Sarah Jones of Oakland came in to get a Rotary hammer drill to help with the retrofit of her house.
"We could go rent this tool, but it would cost us, probably $40-a-day, but we can check it out, bring it back if we got the wrong one... come get a different one... it's brilliant." she said
Borrowing is free for Oakland residents, but like a regular library, if you're late, you'll face a fine of a dollar or two per tool, per day.
Berkeley, Santa Rosa and Santa Clara also have Tool Libraries that are open to residents of those cities. San Francisco's Tool Lending Center is currently closed to the public, as it undergoes renovation.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
Comments