Edinburgh Tool Library

Edinburgh Tool Library Logo with 10 candles to mark the celebration of 10 years of sharing

Why buy when you can share? At Edinburgh Tool Library you can borrow tools from our inventory of thousands of them. Don’t know how to use them? No problem! We bring members together to build and learn by sharing skills and knowledge.

Log in or sign up.

How does the tool library work?

Join

It’s easy. You’ll need proof of address, an email address, and photo ID.

Join now.

Browse

Choose the tools you need for the job(s) in person or online.

Our inventory.

Collect

Our friendly volunteers will welcome you to pick up the tools.

Opening hours.

Return

Take them back, clean and on time, ready for the next borrower.

Participate

Join in classes, open sessions or events. Volunteers are always welcome!

Making an impact

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By borrowing tools rather than buying them we have saved households an incredible £1.5m. A worthwhile saving considering the average drill is used just 13 minutes in its lifetime!

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We protect the environment too; buying these tools would mean an extra 180 tonnes of CO2 pollution, the equivalent of driving a car around the world 180 times!

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We have delivered 100+ community projects which have provided opportunities for communities, particularly young people, elderly and minority groups, to come together with our volunteers and learn new life and employability skills.

Do you have tools to donate?

The Edinburgh Tool Library would love to give your tools a new home, allowing them to continue to give great service, this time to our members. There are a few restrictions, however, on what tools we accept. Please read our guidelines carefully. Thank you!

READ OUR TOOL DONATION GUIDELINES

Support us

As Edinburgh continues to recover from the pandemic, explore new ways to tackle the climate emergency, and at the same time cope with the cost-of-living crisis, we are ramping up our efforts to help communities who need us the most. Support our vital community, outreach and environmental work today.

There are many ways to support us.

Read more.

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Have a browse through all the things we do

The Repairmongery

Got something broken at home? Don’t know where to get it fixed? Try the Repairmongery! The Repairmongery is a new service aiming to fix your broken household items. Pilot stage & research goals What do…

Continue Reading The Repairmongery

ETL Cycle Kitchen

Edinburgh Tool Library is launching a fresh workshop space for working on cycles1. We’re putting together a space for our members and community where you can work on your own cycle, learn basic maintenance skills,…

Continue Reading ETL Cycle Kitchen

Tool Delivery

Service Update / Farr Out is unable to offer the delivery service anymore. We’re looking for an alternative. Reach out if you’re wanting to help. Who Is Farr Out? Edinburgh…

Find out more Tool Delivery

Tools For Life

A 3-month mentoring programme Tools for Life is ETL’s three month long mentorship programme that teaches young people (16+) who face barriers to employment with the…

Find out more Tools For Life

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Become a member today!

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  • Save money – Tools are expensive and not everyone can afford them. Whether you’ve got a shelf to put up, renovations to complete, or a space to transform, you will save money by borrowing tools from a tool library rather than buying tools yourself. In our first 5 years, we saved our members £875,000 compared to what they would have spent on the tools they borrowed.
  • Save space – Using the tool library means you don’t need to worry about where to store tools you’ve bought.
  • Be kind to the planet – If a drill is used for just 13 minutes of its lifetime and spends the rest of its time collecting dust somewhere, why not share it with your neighbours? By using less and sharing more, the Tool Library helps us all save on the packaging, water, fuel and rare earth minerals that go into producing each tool.
  • Better communities! – When you become a member, you become part of a wider community. We run many workshops and programs to help people empower themselves with the knowledge they need to use tools themselves.

JOIN TODAY

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