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Need to iron a shirt for a special occasion, but don’t know your neighbours well enough to borrow one? Or how about a drill to finally fit that bookshelf, but no one in your family owns one either… There’s no need to splash the cash on one-time-use items, Share Bristol Library of Things has the solution.
In the far eastern edges of Bristol, on Kingswood High Street, you’ll find a library that doesn’t deal in books. Here, you can borrow everything from gardening equipment to DIY tools and camping gear. This new kind of library boasts over 500 different things to borrow, with hundreds of regularly active members.
It’s a brilliant idea, but it’s such a shame the rest of the city is missing out on such a helpful service. Well, the volunteer team behind Share Bristol are changing that by opening a second site in Bedminster. Bedminster Library of Things is opening in the old Shoezone shop, at the entrance to St Catherine’s Place, and is currently the only organisation operating from the precinct.
It already has around 150 things available, with more being added every week, including carpet cleaners, pressure washers, cake stands, trumpets and keyboards, tents and sleeping bags. It’s technically already up and running, but an official opening of June 12 will offer hundreds more things and longer opening hours. To do so, they’re looking for more donations and more volunteers (with Bedminster currently only open on Wednesday lunchtimes and Saturday mornings).
How does the Share Bristol Library of Things work?
All you need is an annual membership, which costs £50 per year. There are also concession memberships for people receiving benefits at £20 for a year. After the membership is paid, everything is free to borrow. The plan is that the library on East Street will be spacious enough for people to gather and learn how to use the things on offer – from sewing machines to niche DIY tools.
“We’re so excited to get working on the new Library of Things, and incredibly grateful to everyone who donated to our Crowdfunder last year, all the people who have put Things aside ready for us to have, and all our amazing BS3 volunteers who have been waiting patiently for this news,” said Lisa Harper, the Bedminster Library of Things Manager.
Share Bristol still needs more donations of stuff to lend out with the items most needed being carpet cleaners, pressure washers, sanders and other DIY tools. To get things properly off the ground, they also need more volunteers to help fix things and run lending sessions – which is where the community of South Bristol community can step in. If you’d like to lend a hand or donate items, you can contact them at hello@sharebristol.org.uk or their website.