The Brisbane Tool Library is in urgent need of a new home. Metro Arts, currently hosting the tool library, will be expanding and the tool library needs to relocate to avoid a shutdown.
The tool library started in West End in 2017. And later in 2018, they were hosted by the State Library at The Edge until 2022. Despite facing challenges such as pandemic-induced lockdowns, the tool library still thrived.
In 2022, however, floods struck the site, forcing them to evacuate and salvage as much stock as possible. Later on, Brisbane Tool Library was accommodated at Metro Arts’ Norman Park satellite site, but the agreement has now ended due to the intended expansion.
The Brisbane Tool Library provides value to the community by giving people the opportunity to borrow tools and optimise their use-value. The not-for-profit organisation collects second-hand items for co-use.
Users in Brisbane can borrow tools that would have otherwise been discarded, shipped overseas for e-waste processing or ended up in a landfill. The library runs entirely on volunteers who are passionate about the impact that sharing, equity, and the circular economy can have on their communities.
“The Brisbane Tool Library’s goal is to enable, co-build and accelerate a transition towards a more socially just and ecologically sustainable society. It contributes to a larger degrowth movement that aims at an equitable downscaling of production and consumption that increases human well-being and enhances ecological conditions at the local and global level, in the short and long term,” part of their Mission Statement says.
The Brisbane Tool Library must quickly find a new location if it is to carry out its purpose of minimising inequality, lowering the ecological impact of the community, and saving people money and space in their homes.
If you know of a suitable space, please reach out to the Brisbane Tool Library at staff@brisbanetoollibrary.org.
Published 28-April-2023