Why buy when you can borrow?

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

There are lots of great reasons, not least:

  • It will save you money
  • It will support our vital work with marginalised communities, breaking down barriers to DIY and woodwork
  • We probably have the tool you need
  • We’re popular – nearly 3000 households have joined already and keep coming back
  • It’s greener! By choosing to borrow instead of buy, you’re helping protect the planet
Why buy when you can borrow? 1

It will save you money

Buying tools costs money – hardware stores in the UK made over £14 million in 2022. There are some tools that people need to own and use regularly, but for everything else you could save the retail cost, and sign up for an annual tool library membership for £30!

That’s £30 to borrow any ETL tools you want for a whole year.

Let’s compare buying to borrowing: If you buy a strimmer to tackle your overgrown shared garden in the spring, and then a cordless drill to put up a new shelf or a garden planter in the summer, you’d spend at least £100 on these two tools, not counting any spare strimming cable, power extensions or drill bits.

If you join the tool library, you spend ÂŁ30, borrow a strimmer and a drill and save yourself ÂŁ70+ in the process.

Our strimmers and cordless drills are borrowed consistently throughout the year, which means they’re in good working order and we probably have any extras you need. But most importantly, they’re good quality – we source high quality tools because we know that cheap tools break. So you’re getting access to a more expensive tool for less! This shows the activity in 2020 of just one of our strimmers, and one of our cordless drills.

It will support our vital community work and volunteer initiatives

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

Find out more about our charitable programmes

We probably have the tool you need

As of May 2025, we have 2572 tools in our inventory. From the classic cordless drill to the biscuit joiner, the pressure washer or the sewing machine, there is something for every DIY, repair or gardening project.

BROWSE OUR CATALOGUE

Why buy when you can borrow? 2
Volunteers ready to welcome you for your first borrowing at our Meadowbank Tool Library

We’re popular

As of May 2025 again, we have 2790 active members, and have been steadily growing since we started (not counting the Covid elephant in the room).

Why buy when you can borrow? 3

It’s greener!

Every tool you borrow instead of buying means that a new tool doesn’t have to be made. The plastic doesn’t have to be polymerised from oil, the metal doesn’t have to be mined and extracted, the electronics don’t have to be manufactured. Each material in a tool has an embedded carbon – the carbon released to make it. We can total the embedded carbon for every tool, and show how much carbon the tool library saves:

Why buy when you can borrow? 4


A tool library is a simple idea. It works just like a normal library, but with tools instead of books! Borrow things like drills, sanders, and steamers by the week. Join in events like DIY classes, workshops, and community builds. Volunteer! Help run the tool library, assist with our events, and build stronger links within our communities. Meet your neighbours and people from your community, share your knowledge and skills, or learn something new.

For us, a tool library is about building a community as well as building things.

JOIN TODAY

SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER (We’re also on Facebook and Instagram).

Photo credit: James Duncan