The Library of Things Co-Lab is the featured example of SolidarityWorks—Shareable’s new theory of change, which has shifted our focus to collaborating with organizers and allies to inspire, uplift, network, and scale cooperative infrastructure. Ove the course of 2024, this co-lab convened organizers for training, resources, and support to establish community resource-sharing spaces called Libraries of Things in their communities.
The Library of Things Co-Lab started with a 12-week training course, an online support network, a paid fellowship for six teams in historically marginalized communities, and a comprehensive public toolkit.
Following the conclusion of the initial Co-Lab, we continued to host monthly training sessions due to popular demand.
We’re excited to announce that these monthly sessions will continue in 2025 under the leadership of The Tool Library Alliance. All upcoming events can be found on our calendar.
The recordings and resources from the inaugural 12-week Co-Lab have been compiled as a free online course and Toolkit. Additional sessions will be added to the Toolkit on a rolling basis.
Libraries of Things (often called LoTs) are a community space for the social practice of borrowing and sharing to take place. They hold true to the traditional mechanics of a library while pushing borrowing material to a new edge. Instruments, gardening tools, camping gear, sporting equipment, and more are up for grabs to be borrowed and used throughout the community.
The Library of Things Co-Lab makes this culture-change movement accessible to every community. For 12 weeks (and beyond), this has become a resource-sharing hub that guides organizers through the process of incubating and strengthening LoTs to serve their communities.
The Library of Things Project Includes:
- Research + Development. In 2023, our project team administered an international survey to existing LoTs, conducting qualitative interviews with a select number of LoT managers and community organizers to benchmark the state of LoTs around the globe. The State of Libraries of Things Report was published in February 2024.
- Education + Support. The LoT Fellowship for six teams in historically marginalized communities began in November 2023, and the Co-Lab Workshops started in March 2024. The pilot projects led by our LoT Fellows are opening to the public in 2024 and 2025.
- Integration + Resource Improvement. During the LoT program, we continue to integrate what we’ve learned into The LoT Toolkit, which is published with a Creative Commons License so that it can be used and improved freely.
- Field Strengthening + Micro-grants. The Co-Lab has provided opportunities for existing LoTs to learn from each other and micro-grants for select participants to build capacity. This includes direct support for the launch of The Tool Library Alliance.
Objectives
- Convene Library of Things practitioners
- Facilitate the sharing and documentation of best practices in the field
- Provide the basic education and resources needed to start an LoT from the ground up
Reach out to us (info@shareable.net) if you have any questions about the Co-Lab and our LoT project in more detail.
Initial Partners in the LoT Co-Lab include:
