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From the walls to the floor shelves, every room in The Louisville Tool Library is a handyman's dream, and you'd never guess that all the items are donated.

The nonprofit operates like a traditional library, but instead of books, members can check out multiple household items such as gardening gear, power tools, sewing machines, painting supplies and kitchen appliances.

The library asks for a $120 donation, but members can also pay an annual contribution fee based on their income, or they can volunteer their time at the Logan Street building.

“You can offer anything from a couple hours a month to two to four hours a week or if you come in and you want to help inventory tools or clean tools, that'll be fantastic,” said Paul Faget, one of the library’s founding volunteers. “We really like the idea of helping people make their space better for themselves without having to dig themselves into a hole to do it.”

The initiative was brought to life by a group of friends who saw several needs in the community including access to affordable resources by borrowing expensive tools, rather than buying them. The library founders, who are also homeowners, also recognize that many houses in Shelby Park are in disrepair.

“The mean ages of houses around here are 100 years old and they get a little bit more expensive to be able to maintain and keep up with,” Faget said. “We wanted to make sure that if people wanted to work on a project on their home to make it better for them, they wouldn't have financial reasons as a barrier to entry.”

Nearby businesses like Barefit Adventure Training are excited to have a new neighbor to add to the vibrancy of Logan Street and be able to pop in and grab a tool for their own projects.

“I build and design all of our equipment here, so I'm very happy to have them next door,” said Curtis Hall.

With 80 members in less than one week of launching, the library is excited to continue its mission of lending to the community, while building it up, one tool at a time.

“We've got very high hopes of becoming a larger entity in the community,” Faget said. “We'd love to do some satellite locations in the West End and South End, but it really depends on how we're able to get off our feet here and once we grow this space, we'd love to see further branches open up.”

The library is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays. More information on how to volunteer and donate can be found here.

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