By Joyce Kryszak
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wbfo/local-wbfo-962597.mp3
Buffalo, NY – You can start crossing items off that Honey-Do list. The third branch of the Buffalo Tool Library opened last week in the University Heights neighborhood.
Just when you thought you were going to get out of doing those home repairs because you do not have the right tools.
Sorry, if you live in the city of Buffalo there are no more excuses. There are now three branches of the Buffalo Tool Library. One on the East Side run by PUSH Buffalo, one of the West Side run by Buffalo ReUse, and now one on Main Street run by the University Heights Collaborative.
Darren Cotton is a member of the Collaborative and a SUNY Buffalo graduate student in the Urban Planning Department. Cotton said the idea was born of necessity when he was a tenant with little money.
"I just wanted to so some basic maintenance around the house and the front lawn and I found myself raiding my parents' garage for tools," said Cotton.
Cotton said they are slowly building their collection. But he said they have an assortment of about 50 tools already, including power tools. And if you do not find what you need there, you can borrow from one of the other library branches.
There is a ten dollar annual membership fee that is good at all three branches. After paying the membership, borrowing any tool is free.
The effort originated with PUSH Buffalo. Whitney Yax is the community organizer. She said the tool libaries are one more way to help lower-income city residents improve their housing.
"That is especially true, I think, for renters who might be interested in doing some home improvements project and their landlord isn't stepping up to do that, but wouldn't necessarily want to invest in a tool they're not going to use again," said Yax.
There are at least twenty similar programs running around the country. Cotton from the Heights Collaborative said the libraries are becoming one more "tool," if you will, in the toolbox of grassroots housing groups.
"They are becoming, definitely, a lot more popular, I think, as people are looking for sort of low cost alternatives to neighborhood revitalization and that sort of thing," said Cotton.
More information about hours and policies for all three branches is available at The Buffalo Tool Library web site.