Civic Drawing Board asks Alameda citizens and civic leaders to identify a concrete change that would improve their town.

Alameda’s chief librarian envisions a loaner branch for do-it-yourselfers. Jane Chisaki, Alameda library director, has an idea that she wants to see hammered out in town.

“I would love to see a tool lending library in Alameda. There are currently seven in California and about 50 in the country. It’s time for Alameda to jump on this terrific concept. With all of our beautiful historical homes that are under constant renovation and restoration, I think our residents would really benefit from a place where they could borrow a tool, a how-to video, or a book that would help them with their project.

“Often there is a special tool needed for a project that you purchase, use, and never use again. I’d hope to have these types of tools available for loan so the homeowner wouldn’t have to purchase them.

“Like our seed library and our growing gardening tool library, we should be offering this free service run by experienced and knowledgeable volunteers. And I’m sure our residents would happily donate their extra tools to such a library. The tool library would be an extension of our main library. A person could simply use their library card and ID to check out a tool and off they could go. I think such a resource would make our already diverse library offerings even better.”

This article appears in the January-February 2015 issue of Alameda Magazine
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