By Lisa Kothe

Safety Harbor Public Library

The Safety Harbor Tool Library is the first in the State of Florida and brings a popular and innovative library service to our users.

In early 2016, Safety Harbor Library staff saw a need for a tool lending library to provide our community access to tools at no cost. We put a call out, requesting quality, working-condition hand or electric tools. The average power drill is used only 15 minutes in its lifetime. It made sense to share.

The response was overwhelming. We received donations of posthole diggers, miter saws, pole pruners, soldering guns, tile cutters and more. We officially opened our Tool Library in December 2016.

We filled gaps of more expensive items with the help of the Friends of the Library, who sponsored pressure washers and other large tools. Today our collection consists of 423 items purchased or donated, and we now budget for new tools and replacement parts, just as we do books and other materials. Last fiscal year, we hit a milestone of 10,000 checkouts, and the average is 244 checkouts per month.

To check out tools, patrons must be over 18, have a current Pinellas Public Library Cooperative card and sign a Membership Agreement and Tool Use Policy and a release, both approved by our legal counsel. The Tool Library is maintained by our Adult Services Department, who check items in and out and provide tool maintenance, account management, purchase of items and reservation preparation.

Tools are reserved and picked up Wednesday through Saturday and returned anytime the library is open. The most popular tools, such as pressure washers, carpet cleaners, hedge trimmers, sanders, drills, nail guns, etc., are housed inside the library. Larger items are kept in an outside shed.

If you are interested in starting a tool library in your community, we are happy to share our tips. Visit our Tool Library catalog to view our available tools, policies and contact information.

Lisa Kothe is the Director of the Safety Harbor Public Library.