Santa Rosa, CA tool library

from bohemian.com (Napa/Sonoma/Marin County, CA)

Free Tools

Like a good neighbor, the Santa Rosa Tool Lending Library is there

By Gabe Meline

Six years ago, Dustin Zuckerman was working a routine landscape job. The client wanted a stone pathway that required a tool called a tamper, and, not owning one, Zuckerman went to the hardware store with a familiar quandary. "It was about $35 for a tool that I was going to use once," he says, sitting at his kitchen table. "So I went online to see if anyone loans tools, and I ran into the Oakland Tool Library and the Berkeley Tool Library. And I said, 'This just makes too much sense.'"

Zuckerman, 37, who has worked in book libraries for eight years but calls reading "not my favorite thing to do," has founded the Santa Rosa Tool Lending Library, and in the past two months alone, with only word-of-mouth directing people to the library, he has loaned out tools from his shed to over 50 patrons.

Their web site, borrowtools.org -

The Santa Rosa Tool Library (SRTL) offers over 200 hand and power tools for landscaping and home repair, free of charge, only an overdue fee if a tool is returned past the due date; Just like borrowing a book from your public library. 

There are a few simple steps to start borrowing tools, you must:

1) Be at least 18 years of age

2) A resident of Sonoma County

3) Fill out the Borrowers Agreement

    Click here to print out, and return to us 

4) Provide recent utility bill and valid

    California ID at your first visit.

and the final suggestion at the bottom of all checkout pages:

Safety First  •   Righty Tighty, Lefty Loosy  •  Think Three Times, Measure Twice, Cut Once