Riverside Tool LibraryOld Firehouse No. 3

Open Saturday, 10 to 4

Borrow the drill. Bring it back Sunday.

412 tools to borrow in the old fire station on Riverside Road, from the drill to a pressure washer to a party tent. Every tool hangs over its own painted outline, so you see at a glance what's in and what's out.

  • $15 a year suggested, or pay what you can
  • Collect Saturday, bring it back Sunday
  • 618 households borrowed last year

Pick the job, lift what it needs off the board, or search the whole library. Hang it back on its outline by four on Sunday.

412 tools in the library. The board shows today's 15; the rest wait on the shelves behind it.

Try

    What's the job?

    Tap a job and its tools light up. Tap a tool to lift it into your crate.

    Last year off this board 3,912 loans 618 households $0 in fines Every tool is checked, cleaned and sharpened by the Wednesday fixers before it goes back on its hook.

    Your crate

    Three tools at a time, so the board stays full for the next person.

    • Empty. Lift something off the board.

    Out the door, back on the hook

    Every loan leaves with a manila tag. When it comes back, the borrower writes on the back what the tool did, and we hang the tag on the wire by the door.

    Last year 618 households took 3,912 loans off the board. The average member borrowed about $640 worth of tools for a suggested $15.

    A woman in an olive work jacket walks out of the open red bay door of the fire station on a sunny fall morning, a cordless drill with a manila tag in her hand. Behind her, a volunteer checks a clipboard in front of the tool wall.
    Drill 001 · copy 4 of 6Tamika, Pearl St. Six floating shelves. Back on its outline Sun, 4pm.

    Hung back last Sunday

    • Wallpaper steamer 006Three layers of 1970s paper in the hallway. Two days. Still married.Greg and Lou, Ferry Ave
    • Floor pump 011Both bikes, the stroller and the soccer ball.Jayden, 11, with his dad
    • Pressure washer 101The deck went from green back to wood. Fourth time I've borrowed it this year, and I still don't need to own one.Priya, Canal Rd
    • Hedge trimmer 007Abdul showed me the safety catch. The hedge is now shorter than me.Mrs. Okafor, Mill St
    • Jigsaw 009Cut a cat flap in the back door. The cat won't use it. Not the jigsaw's fault.Marco, Elm St
    • Stepladder 005Gutters cleared before the leaves came down. Back a day early.Dee, Water St
    Three volunteers at a long workbench under fluorescent lights on a Wednesday night: an older man files a hedge trimmer blade, a young man wipes down a cordless drill, and a woman in a denim apron oils a pair of loppers. Coffee mugs and a stack of manila tags sit on the bench.

    Wednesday fixers

    Every Wednesday night, 6 to 8, the bay door comes down and everything that came back on Sunday gets looked at before it goes back on its outline.

    • WaltFiles every blade that comes back blunt. A fixer since the library opened in 2019.
    • AbdulAnything with a motor or a battery. Shows you the safety catch before you leave.
    • InesPaint gear, the steamer and the loppers. Keeps the coffee on.

    Bench, last Wednesday

    • 14 blades sharpened
    • 2 cords replaced, one drill rebuilt
    • Hedge trimmer 007 regreased
    • 3 donated tools given outlines: a router, a shop vac, a bar clamp

    Nine more fixers take turns. No skills needed to join; we teach you on the night.

    How a loan goes

    It's a library. You take it home, you use it, you bring it back, and the next person gets it sharp.

    No fines. If you're late, tell us and we'll stamp a new date. We'd rather have the drill back than the money.

    Date due

    Riverside Tool Library · return to engine bay 2

    1. Sat
      Collect from the benchYour crate is waiting with your name on it. We show you how anything new to you works.
    2. The weekend
      Do the jobDrill the holes, strip the walls, cut the hedge back. Call the station if it fights you.
    3. Sun 4pm
      Hang it back on its outlineBring it clean enough to see. We'll do the rest on Wednesday.
    4. Next week
      Someone else borrows itThat's the whole idea. One good drill, used by forty houses instead of sitting in forty drawers.
    Please keep this slip in the pocket

    Pay what you can

    Membership is a year of borrowing, and you choose what it costs. The firefighters' old donation can still sits by the door.

    We suggest $15 a year. Nobody is ever turned away, and nobody asks what you put in.

    TOOL LIBRARY pay what you can

    $15

    Empty hooks wanted

    Half of this board was given to us. If a tool is sitting in your garage, we'll paint its outline and it will get used every week.

    • A tile cutterBathrooms keep happening.
    • A second stepladderOurs is out most weekends.
    • Bar clampsTwo or more, any length.
    • A lawn aeratorThe fork kind is fine.

    Bring it to the Wednesday fixers, 6 to 8. We'll check it over and paint its outline the same night.

    Engine bay two

    The fire engines left in 1987. We have the middle bay, the one with its door up.

    Tool library

    Wednesday
    6pm to 8pm · fixers and returns
    Saturday
    10am to 4pm · collect
    Sunday
    10am to 4pm · returns

    Old Firehouse No. 3, Riverside Road. Two minutes from the footbridge. Wheelchair access through bay two, and we'll carry anything heavy to your car.