Chicago Tool Library fosters community with access to tools

Anthony Nicholson and his wife have embarked on a number of home improvement projects over the past couple of years, from fixing up the family’s front porch to 3D-printing household items with their three kids, all with the help of tools borrowed from the Chicago Tool Library.

“They have a 3D printer, which has been really fun to borrow once in a while, and the kids have a lot of fun just playing around with it,” he said. “We have an older house that has the old-school locks … and there was no lock on the bathroom, but there was a little keyhole — and so we 3D-printed a key for the bathroom.”

Opened in the fall of 2019 just before the pandemic, the Bridgeport-based Chicago Tool Library has become a resource for many residents who want to tackle home improvement projects for the first time but lack the tools. The library’s mission is to “provide equitable access to tools, equipment and information to allow all Chicagoans to learn, share and create.”

In addition to basic household tools, the library offers camping equipment, sewing machines, craft supplies, kitchen equipment, folding tables and more.

The library, which has emerged as not only a resource hub but a collaborative community, has a “pay what you can” annual membership model that allows members to pay nothing or as much as $400 per year to borrow items, according to co-founder and Executive Director Tessa Vierk.

A persistent hurdle for the library has been funding, especially as it looks to offer classes and find another location on the South or West Side.

Library member Maya Hillman said the library’s decision to seek out a location in those parts of the city, rather than the North Side, rings true to its mission of accessibility. “I feel like the North Side will often get a lot of resources, and the people in the South and West Side kind of get the shaft there,” she said. “So I appreciate that — they’re really trying. … They’re not just words. They stand behind their words too.”

When the Tool Library first announced its search for a new location last year, Chicago Community Tools, another tool lending program, decided it would cease its own operations after struggling during the pandemic and donate its entire inventory of about 5,000 tools to the Tool Library. According to Vierk, the donation will allow the Tool Library to launch a new lending program supporting community groups like churches, schools, neighborhood associations and nonprofits.

Tool Library members are also able to donate to the library’s inventory. Nicholson, for example, has donated items that he needed, which the library didn’t already have.

“It’s almost like they’re holding on to it for us, because if we ever really needed it again, we could borrow it,” he said.

Vierk noted that in the wake of the pandemic and rising costs associated with inflation, the library saw a “huge balloon in interest” as more and more people felt pushed to pursue their own home improvement projects.

“Recently a lot of people are taking home improvement projects, especially because supply chain issues and issues with labor reliability and availability — people are taking on their own home repairs, like they’re doing their own tile work. … There’s a lot of DIY going on for sure,” she said.

Before the pandemic, the library had about 150 members. In a community poll prior to the pandemic, library leaders asked people why they hadn’t used the library yet and most said they didn’t have any time.

“And then of course during the pandemic, everybody had too much time,” Vierk said.

The library is now 3,000 members strong and sees 30 to 70 visitors per day. Tool Library members cited various other reasons for joining the library, including rising costs for tool purchases and home improvement projects and wanting to reduce waste.

Nicholson first visited the Tool Library in 2019 but didn’t sign up as a member until the pandemic began the following year.

“It was an interesting time to do things yourself if you don’t want people in the house,” he said.

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For Nicholson, the primary advantage of joining has been reducing unnecessary purchases and hoarding of tools and other items in his home.

“I would put myself in this category where I could afford to go to Home Depot and buy a bunch of stuff,” he said. “But just kind of philosophically, it’s really nice to not put one more thing in the world when I could just use it one week out of the year and not have to have it be a thing that I own or that takes up space in our house.”

While there are hundreds of similar resources in the world, according to Vierk, the Chicago Tool Library is the first of its kind in Chicago. In addition to lending tools, the library is expanding side programs like “repair fairs” hosted in collaboration with the Chicago Public Library to help people with repairs at various library locations.

“Generally, we’re here to kind of create more equitable access to the things that people want or need, help people live more sustainable lives and just encourage people to be more creative and curious and learn new skills throughout their lives,” Vierk said. “You know, self-sufficiency and lifelong learning are a big part of what tool libraries help people with.”

Hillman, the founder of Mac & Cheese Productions, a lifestyle business that seeks to help adults lead joyful lives, joined the library in its early days, becoming member No. 8 in 2019, though her involvement didn’t really pick up until the pandemic, when Hillman — like the rest of the city — found herself looking for a reason to “get away from the computer screen.”

In addition to finding the tools and guidance to begin refinishing and reselling furniture from her home and from thrift stores, Hillman ultimately found a welcoming, inclusive community. She said many of her clients feel as if they lack community and are “floating in this big city and don’t have enough connections.” The Tool Library became one hidden site of community that she discovered in the city.

“I wanted to learn through not a screen, but through the actual person, and the Tool Library had the reputation of being staffed by really open-minded, warmhearted, helpful, knowledgeable people. … I was pretty sure that I would not feel judged or stupid,” she said. “Every time I would go to pick up or return tools, I ended up just standing there like it was my local bar.”