West Philly Tool Library staff (Photo courtesy WPTL).

West Philly Tool Library (WPTL) is Philadelphia’s only library that lends tools to community members, both individuals and organizations. WPTL’s members borrow tools for home repairs, construction projects, gardening and even creating art. Recently, the tool library has announced some big plans that include increasing the number of members in more neighborhoods and their access to most needed tools and expanding their education and outreach programs.

Sounds great, but the problem is that WPTL can’t meet this demand without community help. Their current memberships fund only 34 percent of their annual operating budget of $40,000. So an online crowdfunding campaign was launched to help them make ends meet.

WPTL is currently raising $10,000 through Indiegogo and has already raised over $3,000. The money donated through this campaign will help the following projects, according to the campaign page:

• Increase availability of the tools they can’t keep on the shelves, like table saws, weed whackers, tile saws, and cordless drills
• Develop a robust education program to ensure that community members have the skills they need to properly leverage their tools
• Develop programs to reach into the neighborhoods they don’t fully serve

For more information and to donate, click here.

If you want to learn more about how to become the tool library member, visit this page.