The Lending Toolshed

Our neighborhood association turned an old garden shed into a "tool library." You can borrow a drill, a ladder, a pressure washer or a pasta maker for a week, for free, with a library card made of laminated cardboard.

It's run by a retired carpenter named Augustin, who sits in a lawn chair outside on Saturday mornings with a clipboard and a thermos. He gives you the tool and a five-minute lesson whether you want one or not. I borrowed a hedge trimmer and learned the history of the hedge trimmer.

People have donated over three hundred items: tile saws, sewing machines, a chocolate fountain, a tent big enough for twelve. Someone donated an accordion, which has been checked out every week since.

It's saved me hundreds of dollars. More than that, I've met twenty neighbors I'd never have met, all of us standing in line on Saturday morning, swapping stories about our projects while Augustin explains the drill.