What's Happening?!
SW20, a collective of South West Edinburgh residents, has put together a brand new team of tool librarian volunteers! We have a base at the Shed in Spylaw Public Park run by Colinton Village Enterprise SCIO and where we will be storing a small inventory of tools from Edinburgh Tool Library. This means that from June 2023 onwards, current and new members of the Edinburgh Tool Library can now borrow tools from Colinton!
They will run weekly borrowing sessions:
on Friday early evenings (5pm till 6.30pm) for tool collections
and on Monday late evenings (7.30pm) for returns,
As well as weekly transfers from Meadowbank, the main inventory of the Edinburgh Tool Library (these will likely start mid June).
The transfer is a brand new service that SW20 volunteers and ETL are piloting. Any feedback, suggestions or interest in getting involved are very welcome.
The same borrowing rules from the other ETL locations apply for Colinton. Members can keep the tools for a weekend if that’s enough for them to get the job done or for 10 days if their project requires a bit more time. All borrowers are asked to return the tools back to where they borrowed it from, on the due date, during opening times, clean and in good working order - or with details of any issues they encounter with the tools borrowed.
We've answered the most frequently asked questions in our FAQ below. Check it out, we might have already answered yours! ETL's main FAQ is also worth looking at, here. If not, you can email SW20 tool librarians on sw20.etl@gmail.com. For general enquiries about the Edinburgh Tool Library, email hello@edinburghtoollibrary.org.uk.
Colinton FAQ
Is Colinton Pick-up/Drop-off location only for local residents? No, borrowing from the Colinton location is open to everyone. You just need an active membership at the Edinburgh Tool Library (which you can do in advance or at 'the shed'.
How much is membership for borrowing from Colinton? Wherever you intend to borrow from Edinburgh Tool Library, membership is paid annually and is £30. We also offer a concession price at £10 if you are in full-time education, receiving benefits (JSA, ESA, Income Support, Universal Credit) or over the age of 65 and can't afford £30. And we also offer a Pay-it-Forward price at £40 if you can give a little extra to cover someone else's membership. See here for more information.
I can’t find the tool I need in the Colinton inventory. Can a Meadowbank tool be transferred to Colinton for me? Yes! SW20 volunteers are sharing the Shed at Spylaw Park with many other organisations so only have a couple of shelves for storing tools on site. But they have cargo bikes and are keen to pick-up tools for you from the Meadowbank inventory.
How to ask for a transfer from Meadowbank to Colinton?
Have a browse through the Meadowbank inventory and write down the ETL codes of the tools you’re interested in (they look like ETL followed by 4 digits).
Email the list to sw20.etl@gmail.com or pop by at the Shed on Fridays early evenings (5pm till 6.30pm) or Mondays late evenings (7.30pm) and the volunteers will help you get the transfer request in the pipelines.
Best is to email before Thursday, so that we have time to check if the tools are there, all good, and transfer them for you to pick-up them up on Friday.