Number of loans recorded since April 2019
Number of items available to borrow
We are now a Co operative - Non Profit Organization members are exempt from the hourly contribution.
For household memberships, the cooperative requires a $1 per week fee and approximately one hour per week (five hours per month) of your time. This combination is designed to keep membership affordable while encouraging a collective commitment to maintaining and growing the Library’s resources. We believe this small financial and time contribution will allow members to become more engaged with our mission while making full access to our shared goods.
For nonprofit organizations and community events, the Library operates on a minimum $1 contribution, allowing organizations and events access resources without a major financial commitment. This flexibility is intended to foster the wider use of the Library’s items to groups that directly contribute to community well-being, creating an environment where everyone benefits.
In essence, this cooperative model is a reflection of our values of sharing, sustainability, and community care. By pooling our community efforts and resources, we can ensure that the Library of Stuff remains a thriving hub for practical, affordable solutions that help reduce consumption and waste.
WE SIMPLY GOT TOO busy!
The graph above is from the Australian Library of Things Network (ALOT) first survey of Australian share libraries. It was published earlier this year. It’s easy to see why most others are still comfortable operating with just 5-10 dedicated volunteers. We need to move away from a typical volunteer run operation where a few do the work for many to a co operative model of operation where many do the work to support themselves and a generous share of others who need extra assistance for short to long periods of time.
The benefit to community in good times and bad of a store of shared assets is yet to be fully explored. With a generous team of willing hands and big brains we believe our share library will grow to become a major contributor to the health and wellbeing of our community at large and be able to continue to support other organisations taking on roles of asset managers and sharers – our team is currently working to support Resilient Lismore and Resilient Uki.
At 5000 loans a year recorded April 22-23 and then repeated 23-24 the wheels nearly fell off. Our volunteer hours didn’t grow proportionally to this sustained increase in demand. So we have taken the decision to reset and build internal capacity by adopting a Co operative style of operation for our household members. We will serve each other as well as continue the initiatives impressive history of supporting other non profits in the area. We also support informal landcare type groups that care for public lands and local event organisers who share our passion for waste avoidance by borrowing reusables rather than using disposables. If this co op change is new to you please scroll back up and read the important post explaining the announcement.
To read more about Library’s of Things around the country check out the ALOT report just below.
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