Tool Library gathers gurus and equipment

NEW not-for-profit, the Ballarat Tool Library is moving into Ballarat East’s Barkly Square and plans to open this year.

Led by a committee of volunteers, the initiative will soon offer a collection of garden, construction, home maintenance, kitchen, woodwork, and artistic tools for the community to borrow.

Angela Molloy, Ballarat Tool Library committee member said the team has been challenged in 2020, but has come together with a common goal to provide affordable, accessible equipment lending.

“While COVID threw a spanner in the works, we’ve been working hard behind the scenes during lock down to establish a Tool Library for Ballarat,” she said.

The Ballarat Tool Library are encouraging members of the pubic to give to their tool drive if they have equipment at home or at work that they no longer need, but is still in a good, safe condition.

A storage facility at Barkly Square, 25 Barkly Street will be open over the next two weekends on 3, 10 and 11 October, between 10am and 2pm with strict COVID-safe procedures in place.

The committee have worked to build storage cages for the Library’s tools in recent months, and are on the hunt for “tool gurus,” or people with a particularly strong knowledge of tools, their names and how they differ.

These people could also have the responsibility of inspecting equipment to confirm their levels of safety, including testing and tagging.

Contact [email protected] to donate equipment or express interest in being a tool guru.

Visit ballarattoollibrary.org or facebook.com/ballarattoollibrary.