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Why buy a drill you will use for ten minutes a year when you could borrow one? That is the idea behind the "Library of Things", which opened last month in an empty shop on Station Road in the town of Kingsbury.
Instead of books, the library lends out more than 300 useful items that most people need only occasionally. These include tools such as drills and ladders, camping equipment, sewing machines, a carpet cleaner, a projector for parties and even a large tent for garden events. All the items were donated by local residents or bought with money from a community fund.
Borrowing is simple. Members choose an item on the library's website, book it for up to one week and collect it from the shop. Membership costs £10 a year, and each item has a small daily fee, usually between 50p and £3, which pays for repairs and the shop's rent. People who receive certain government benefits can join for free.
Before borrowing some items, such as the electric saw, members must attend a short safety session run by volunteers. Every item is checked and cleaned when it is returned, and anything broken is repaired by a team of retired engineers who meet every Wednesday.
The organisers say the library has two main aims: to save people money and to reduce waste. Most household drills, they point out, are used only a few times a year and spend the rest of their lives in a cupboard. "Imagine if every street shared one drill instead of having twenty," said organiser Tom Bryant. "That's a lot less metal and plastic going into the ground."
In its first month, the library has gained 280 members and lent items more than 400 times. The most popular item so far is the carpet cleaner, followed by the camping tents.