It was just a couple of years ago when a small group of friends had the idea to start a tool library (also known as a Library of Things) in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, U.S. The idea was exciting, but creating a thriving sharing hub felt daunting. So they began looking for available resources to help them get started and found the Tool Library Alliance (TLA), which unites tool libraries across the U.S. to foster community resilience, increase sustainability, and build a culture of generosity through the sharing of tools, skills, and knowledge. It was during a TLA workshop that they learned about Shareable’s comprehensive Library of Things Toolkit, a step-by-step guide for anyone to start a sharing project, regardless of a person’s background.
Libraries of Things (LoTs) are community-based systems that make it easier for people to borrow, share, and collectively steward physical resources. LoTs follow the traditional mechanics of a public library while pushing the boundaries of what can be borrowed: tools, sewing machines, emergency supplies, and much more! LoTs are more than tool-sharing; they often become critical community resilience hubs and “third spaces.”
The organizers in Harrisburg started with the goal of raising an initial $15,000 in lifetime tool library memberships to secure a space for their tool library. Veronica Adams, one of the Harrisburg Tool Library’s co-founders and its current vice president, said the toolkit’s templates and examples made this task much easier: “I’ve never done a membership model before. Being able to just copy from the toolkit was so helpful.” Fellow co-founder and President Kate Lally echoed how helpful the toolkit was, “It was like a best friend holding my hand through the opening of our tool library.”
Buy a physical copy of the Library of Things Toolkit
This 250-page book will walk you through the process to start (or grow) a thriving sharing hub in your community. By ordering direct from Shareable, you’ll automatically get 25% off!
And the team in Harrisburg isn’t alone; another group of local organizers used the Library of Things Toolkit to start the Northeastern Tool Library (NeTL) in Keeseville, New York. “Instead of feeling like we were starting from scratch in an isolated silo, we felt connected to a whole network of people who had already been there who could help us along the way. A physical copy of the toolkit lives in the tool library, and the NeTL team continues to refer to it often!” said Morgan Ingraham and Lindsay Eberhart, from the Institute for Sustainability Engagement and who helped create and manage the NeTL.
Morgan and Lindsay printed out their own copy of the original Library of Things Toolkit. When the Shareable team heard this, we knew we wanted to offer a printed book version of the expanded second edition of the toolkit (in addition to the free interactive web and PDF formats!).
And now, the second edition of the Library of Things Toolkit is available as a printed book for purchase!
The possibilities of Libraries of Things
There are roughly 2,000 formal LoTs worldwide, along with countless informal ones. Modern LoTs have been in operation since the 1970’s (the longest-running, since 1979, is a tool library that’s part of the Berkeley Public Library system in California, U.S.), but communal resource sharing has always been an essential part of the human experience.
Households are expected to purchase and maintain tools, equipment, and other expensive, rarely used items. The result is financial strain, wasted resources, and neighborhoods that are less resilient, less connected, and unprepared for disruption. Shared resource infrastructure builds systems for accessing physical items, turning underused goods into community assets.
By shifting from isolated ownership to shared infrastructure, LoTs help communities become more affordable, economically vibrant, sustainable, connected, and resilient—often with lower start-up costs than many traditional community development practices.
LoTs and other shared resource infrastructure can help address:
- Household financial fragility and equitable access: Affordable shared access reduces the need for large, infrequent purchases and high-interest debt. For the cost of buying or even renting a single tool at a big-box store, a member of an LoT can access hundreds or thousands of tools for an entire year. In affordable housing communities like Connect Highstar in Houston, Texas, U.S., integrated LoTs expand access to essential equipment without increasing household debt.
- Economic opportunity and small business development: Shared tools lower barriers to entry for tradespeople, landscapers, and entrepreneurs. The Minneapolis Tool Library, in Minnesota, U.S., was launched with Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to support homeowners maintaining properties in blighted neighborhoods and has operated a robust trades program. In the City of Oakland, the public tool library stocks dozens of professional-grade string trimmers and other equipment, often borrowed by people starting a new yard care or construction business, allowing them to save money on upstart costs like equipment purchases without relying on costly credit.
- Sustainability and waste reduction: Reporting has estimated that the average power drill is used for only about 15 minutes over its lifetime. Sharing dramatically increases utilization rates, reducing material consumption and waste. LoTs like the Buffalo Tool Library have paired access with environmental initiatives such as Lead Safe mitigation programs, showing how shared tools can support both public health and climate goals.
Emergency preparedness and climate resilience: Communities with an LoT can mobilize resources more quickly during crises because tools are collectively stewarded and relationships already exist. The Asheville Tool Library in North Carolina, U.S., played a critical role alongside the WNC Repair Café in response to Hurricane Helene, while the Central Florida Mutual Aid Tool Library was established as a central tool hub for post-Hurricane Ian repairs. - Community cohesion and social infrastructure: LoTs function as trusted “third places” (neither home nor work) where neighbors meet, volunteer, share skills, and practice collective governance. They counter isolation, strengthen networks of mutual aid and care, and build habits of cooperation that extend beyond borrowing items.
By shifting from isolated ownership to shared infrastructure, LoTs help communities become more affordable, economically vibrant, sustainable, connected, and resilient—often with lower start-up costs than many traditional community development practices.
Shareable’s dedication to Libraries of Things
In addition to Shareable’s regular reporting over the past 17 years (including the publication of a free e-book, “Library of Things: A Cornerstone of the Real Sharing Economy,” in 2020), we have directly supported the development of LoTs across several sectors. Projects have included an official advisory role to the former mayor of Seoul, South Korea, as they developed a pilot program with 32 lending libraries in apartment buildings; an inspiration and advisory role on the creation of La BOM, a three-story community center and sharing hub in Montreuil, France; and our program director, Tom Llewellyn, was a co-founder of the Asheville Tool Library in North Carolina, U.S.
We began our current multi-year focus on Libraries of Things by first surveying 82 LoTs in 11 countries to produce the State of Libraries of Things 2024 Report. Key findings include:
- Many LoTs are making a difference in their communities with just a handful of volunteers and a small space like a storage unit or garage.
- The vast majority of LoTs are fully volunteer-run with annual budgets of less than $10,000 per year, limited inventory, and average memberships of less than 200 people.
- Larger independent LoTs typically include a storefront, a significant annual budget, and at least one paid staff person (often a volunteer coordinator).
- For financial sustainability, LoTs rely most heavily on a combination of membership fees, grants, and donations.
- Most LoTs have been operating for less than five years and are open one to three days per week when they have capacity (with limited hours).
A key takeaway from our research is that most LoTs are very small and don’t require much space, inventory, or cost to begin operating. The most important thing is to just get started and then consider growth later.
We believe that shared resource infrastructure, such as LoTs, should be a core, scalable solution for affordability, resilience, and sustainability.
Later in 2024, we hosted the Library of Things Co-Lab to train organizers to start (or grow) an LoT in their communities. Over the course of three months, 200 people from around the world participated in the training, proving a universal need for LoTs (and the support to launch them). Following the conclusion of the Co-Lab:
- The initial 12 live presentations were adapted into the first edition of The Library of Things Toolkit, which has now been downloaded in over 60 countries.
- Shareable became a fiscal sponsor and incubator for the Tool Library Alliance (TLA), a newly formed network of established LoTs in the U.S., which is playing a pivotal role in the continued development of the field.
- We supported 10 local organizers from communities across the U.S. who were working on six LoTs, including a campus LoT at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida, and the Connect Highstar LoT at an affordable housing development in Houston, Texas. Replicating these models across university campuses and housing developments is now a key component of our strategy to rapidly scale LoTs worldwide.
We believe that shared resource infrastructure, such as LoTs, should be a core, scalable solution for affordability, resilience, and sustainability. We envision a world where every community has access to some form of shared resource infrastructure—whether that is a lending kiosk, a decentralized library app, a public library with a collection of things, or a full-scale, independent LoT.
These aren’t one-off programs or charity giveaways. LoTs are rooted in Solidarity Economy and mutual aid practices. Crucially, though, they are mutual aid in the form of durable, everyday infrastructure, just like public libraries, parks, or transit, created to meet both daily needs and moments of crisis. When thoughtfully designed and rooted in trusted local institutions, LoTs can help reduce household financial shock, increase access to new opportunities and skills, improve disaster resilience, and help support circular and solidarity economies.
Rather than launching isolated projects, Shareable focuses on building the connective tissue that allows LoTs to thrive across different settings. That means:
- Identifying what successful sharing systems have in common
- Supporting real-world pilots embedded in housing developments, public libraries, campuses, and community organizations
- Translating on-the-ground learning into clear models, tools, and evidence
- Making shared resources legible and investable for institutions, funders, and public systems
Our goal is not just to launch more LoTs, but rather to build a recognized field of community sharing infrastructure that communities can adopt, adapt, and sustain.
We hope the expanded second edition of the Library of Things Toolkit will provide organizers (like you!) with best practices, inspiration, and tools for making your LoT a reality.
