5 ms·

My local library which is part of the Washington county Library system (next to Portland). It's where Hillsboro is, which is where Intel's manufacturing is, als

My local library which is part of the Washington county Library system (next to Portland). It's where Hillsboro is, which is where Intel's manufacturing is, also called Silicon Forest, has a Library Of Things! I've checked out a KitchenAid stand mixer, synthesizer, guitar, stud finder, drum machine, ukulele, air quality detector, and many more things. They also have a sewing machine and a. Vitamix. It's amazing! I love being able to check out new things from our library! I think there's an effort towards tool checkout as well in the future! There's a tool library in a couple cities east of us as well that I keep hearing about! PDX has it going on!!!

retired_account 4mo ago
The Washington County library system is excellent; I love that one card will get you access to the entire area.
- rfarley04 4mo ago
  That's my library system too! I go to tualatin and it has a dedicated room for their makerlab and have classes every day for all kinds of stuff. Whenever I go in its pretty well attended.
erikschoster 4mo ago
Our little town in Minnesota has some of these too (https://winona.lib.mn.us/library-of-things/ https://winona.lib.mn.us/library-of-things/) it's really cool! There's also a new maker space getting set up now which will have a tool library open to the community.
xattt 4mo ago
Libraries of Things are a thing now. The items that are most useful are those that lend things that you use from once a year to every couple of years. My local library (PEI Library Service) has a telescope, radon detector, a basic (and I mean basic) toolkit, some gardening tools among other things. The collection has a couple of surprises, but mostly underwhelming. I did request something more practical, like a bicycle disc brake flushing kit, but this has not happened yet.
- bombcar 4mo ago
  Auto part stores often will lend both weird and specialized tools, and relatively basic ones, too. Usually the way it works is you "buy" the tool and then "return" it.
  - II2II 4mo ago
    While I understand some people think this is clever, all it does is increase costs for businesses which ends up increasing costs for honest consumers. Worse yet: it tends to increase the cost for local businesses, or at least businesses employing local people, so it's giving the finger to your neighbours rather than to the man.
    - blendergeek 4mo ago
      Many autoparts store have a formal tool lending program that is structured as buy/return. I know it sounds like @bombcar is suggesting some “lifehack” that is closer to stealing. But, no, this is an actual service provided by actual auto parts stores. https://www.autozone.com/lp/loan-a-tool https://www.autozone.com/lp/loan-a-tool
      - II2II 4mo ago
        If it is a formal policy of the store, then it's a different story. They could also manage it in a way to minimize costs. That said, I have run into people who are proud of "discovering" the lifehack version.
      - Linosaurus 4mo ago
        Ok, so they don’t call it a ’buy’ program. It’s a lending program, for free. With a deposit for full value so it becomes a purchase if you don’t return it in time. Same structure but the phrasing matters. Cool idea.
        asveikau 4mo ago
        From the website it seems like they're expecting that some people will do this with the intention of renting, but then decide to keep or not get around to the return process.
jurgenburgen 4mo ago
The local library system has in addition to niche services like 3d printers and circuit card printers a humongous board game collection. You can reserve a board game online, it eventually appears at your local branch of the library and then you check it out for 2 weeks. Really great way to test before you buy.
happyPersonR 4mo ago
Do they have a fusion splicer ? I know it might seem random… but I feel like might come in clutch in the future

retired_account 4mo ago

The Washington County library system is excellent; I love that one card will get you access to the entire area.

rfarley04 4mo ago
That's my library system too! I go to tualatin and it has a dedicated room for their makerlab and have classes every day for all kinds of stuff. Whenever I go in its pretty well attended.

erikschoster 4mo ago

Our little town in Minnesota has some of these too (https://winona.lib.mn.us/library-of-things/ https://winona.lib.mn.us/library-of-things/) it's really cool! There's also a new maker space getting set up now which will have a tool library open to the community.

xattt 4mo ago

Libraries of Things are a thing now. The items that are most useful are those that lend things that you use from once a year to every couple of years. My local library (PEI Library Service) has a telescope, radon detector, a basic (and I mean basic) toolkit, some gardening tools among other things. The collection has a couple of surprises, but mostly underwhelming. I did request something more practical, like a bicycle disc brake flushing kit, but this has not happened yet.

bombcar 4mo ago
Auto part stores often will lend both weird and specialized tools, and relatively basic ones, too. Usually the way it works is you "buy" the tool and then "return" it.
- II2II 4mo ago
  While I understand some people think this is clever, all it does is increase costs for businesses which ends up increasing costs for honest consumers. Worse yet: it tends to increase the cost for local businesses, or at least businesses employing local people, so it's giving the finger to your neighbours rather than to the man.
  - blendergeek 4mo ago
    Many autoparts store have a formal tool lending program that is structured as buy/return. I know it sounds like @bombcar is suggesting some “lifehack” that is closer to stealing. But, no, this is an actual service provided by actual auto parts stores. https://www.autozone.com/lp/loan-a-tool https://www.autozone.com/lp/loan-a-tool
    - II2II 4mo ago
      If it is a formal policy of the store, then it's a different story. They could also manage it in a way to minimize costs. That said, I have run into people who are proud of "discovering" the lifehack version.
    - Linosaurus 4mo ago
      Ok, so they don’t call it a ’buy’ program. It’s a lending program, for free. With a deposit for full value so it becomes a purchase if you don’t return it in time. Same structure but the phrasing matters. Cool idea.
      - asveikau 4mo ago
        From the website it seems like they're expecting that some people will do this with the intention of renting, but then decide to keep or not get around to the return process.

jurgenburgen 4mo ago

The local library system has in addition to niche services like 3d printers and circuit card printers a humongous board game collection. You can reserve a board game online, it eventually appears at your local branch of the library and then you check it out for 2 weeks. Really great way to test before you buy.

happyPersonR 4mo ago

Do they have a fusion splicer ? I know it might seem random… but I feel like might come in clutch in the future