The Toronto Tool Library creates an affordable solution for student home repairs
Founders Lawrence Alvarez and Ryan Dyment in their newest tool library location, partnering with the Toronto Public Library, in Downsview. Photo: Justin Arjune
Need a tool? Why not rent it?
The Toronto Tool Library is not only making tool-sharing more accessible, it is maintaining a culture where people fix what is broken instead of tossing things away.
“We are one human family. We are a flicker in a much brighter light that goes on, and we do not have the right to take away from people who are born after us,” said Lawrence Alvarez, a co-founder of the Toronto Tool Library.
As an environmental activist, Alvarez was motivated by a concern for the Earth. After working with different environmental organizations, he became part of a team motivated by the same concern.
“Our mission was to challenge people’s perceptions of ownership and their relationship to the Earth’s resources,” said Alvarez.
After some research Alvarez, along with with his friend and business partner Ryan Dyment, found the existence of tool libraries in the United States. Inspired, they founded the Toronto Tool Library to make tools more accessible and affordable in Toronto.
Since its inception in 2013, the library has opened three locations: Parkdale, Danforth and Downsview.
Their first location in Parkdale is used for housing tools. But after repeated calls from customers unable to do projects at their residences, their second location in the east end near Coxwell Station was opened with a “makerspace” allowing projects to be done on-site.
The makerspace, according to information from the tool library, is an “innovation and technology hub to turn any project into a reality.”
It is also a place for sharing ideas and working on projects together, said Alvarez.
In April 2015, the tool library opened its third location in Downsview after partnering with the Toronto Public Library — a big step for them.
“Our vision is much larger than tools; you do justice to the process, justice to the energy that was used to make it. The oil, the copper, the rare earth minerals, the aluminium. All these things, they have an end date and they should not end with our generation,” said Alvarez.
Through gracious donations from community members the tool library has exceeded 3,000 tools. “Ninety-five per cent of all the tools in the tool library were donated,” said Alvarez, adding that almost every day they receive a new donation.
Community members must purchase a membership for $50 in order to take out tools. Alvarez stressed that while there are many people who cannot afford the yearly membership fee, he doesn’t believe that people should be held back from doing their own projects because of economic reasons.
Makerspace memberships are also available for $100 per month with a one-time $200 registration fee. Members will get 24/7 access to the space, ability to borrow from over 3,000 tools, free skills-training on tools, as well as discounted rates on 3D printing materials and a complimentary tool library membership.
Students interested in becoming members will receive 10 per cent off both monthly and registration fees.
For more information go to torontotoollibrary.com for locations and hours of operation.
CORRECTIONS: An earlier version of this article misidentified co-founder Ryan Dyment and incorrectly stated that the Tool Library’s Downsview branch opened in 2014, it in fact opened in April, 2015.
