Membership Info

If you have friends or family who are 18 or over, able to collect and return items to the Library of Stuff in Mullumbimby and are passionate about sharing, repairing, saving emissions, saving money and ultimately reducing our communities impact on the planet then a Library membership is something they are going to love!!!

PURCHASE GIFT MEMBERSHIPS HERE 

When you purchase a gift membership you can either put their email address in the recipient field and they will get the gift voucher instantly via email or you can put your own email in and keep the voucher to either forward to them at a later date or print out and put in a card:)

The gift that keeps on giving will support your loved ones to save money and they will reduce their drain on the planets finite resources.  A great win win.

We are passionate about keeping our membership fees affordable for all residents and non profit (NFP) organisations in our community.   A one month trial Membership is only $20 but you can only take this out once, and you can only borrow a maximimum of 5 items.

Standard Household Memberships come in two forms – if you have capacity and interest to be an Active Member and volunteer aproximately 2 hours a fortnight you can select the $1 per week membership.  If you can’t, no worries, you need to take out the $2 per week option.  Both have a minimum initial cost of $26 and allow you to borrow lots of stuff (we haven’t set a limit but some logical restrictions apply like you can’t book all our tents during school holidays or all our gazebo’s during peak event season).

Household Memberships are for exactly that – for you to use at your home or for the benefit of the people who normally reside in your home or visitors.  Please don’t suggest to your friends that it’s ok for them to use your membership cause it’s not.   Avoid putting our volunteer librarians in an uncomfortable position when they assume it’s you picking up or dropping back stuff.  Circumstances out of your control will of course be forgiven but otherwise it’s important you collect and return borrowed items in person.

We don’t allow household membership holders to borrow our stuff to support events or commercial activity other than a situation where they may wish to try holding a market stall to see if the endevour is worth pursuing regularly or for the occassional garage sale.  If you are assisting with an event then please speak to us about our the best way for the Library assets to help reduce the need for the event to buy stuff they only need to use once.  If the event is not for profit we are happy to sponsor if there is no budget or its a fundraiser.

Please do not view us as a cheap alternative to local hire companies.  

They are our allies in offering alternatives to buying items infrequently required by our community.

If you love what we are working so hard to develop and have the capacity to donate additional funds please consider making a donation – tax deductible receipts can be provided via our partner and auspicor, Mullum SEED Incorporated.  See our donation page for more information.

Active Members contribute 2 hours per fortnight on average to fill roles imperative to the operation and growth of the Library of Stuff.

• Librarians – volunteer to greet and serve other members.

We open the Library 3 days a week with a fortnightly roster for librarians – we aim for two on each session plus we are actively looking to add a third regular vollie who has skills to check tools going out and coming back and have a chat with members to ensure they know how to use them. 

• Behind the Scenes Support Team Members.  A variety of roles that provide more flexibility than a fortnightly rostered committment.

• • • Committee roles.  Mullum Cares Incorporated is the parent organisation.  Board positions are available to Library members as are positions on the Library of Stuff Management Committee.   Meetings are quarterly.

• • • Comms & Marketing.  Pretty self explanatory – we haven’t the resources to grow like mad so we focus more on growing our benefit to existing members and continuing to grow organically through word of mouth.  We would love some help with particularly finding a way to ensure our current members know what we have available and when new items are added. 

• • • Events team.  We are looking for a team to organise quarterly activies – two stocktake type efforts per year plus two (or more!) social events.  If you have the nouse to think Annual Open Day type event we’ve always wanted to do that so lets doi it!!

• • • Comms & Marketing. Pretty self explanatory – we haven’t the resources to grow like mad so we focus more on growing our benefit to existing members and continuing to grow organically through word of mouth.  We would love some help with particularly finding a way to ensure our current members know what we have available and when new items are added. 

• • • Stuff Maintenance.  There are roles for suitably qualified members to assist Librarians during each opening session and in between sessions as well to ensure our dangerous tools are carefully inspected in between each use and that members who borrow them know how to use them.  So whether you’re a people person or a behind the scenes type, if you have skills in the repair and maintenance of tools you are at the top of our wanted list!  Please consider giving some time to help us keep our insurer happy and our members safe:)

• • • Sponsorship Manager. There are so many great quality brands we would love to reach out to to ask for sponsorship from on the basis that we love introducing or reconnecting our members with great quality products and hope many consider trying by borrowing from us before buying.  We have pasta, bread and pie making machines that are super typical products that many people buy and then leave to gather dust in a kitchen cupboard.  The focus is on ‘infrequently needed’.  Why buy items you infrequently need when you can borrow them.
      • In addition to sponsorship for inventory stock we still have a task ahead of us to reach financial sustainability.  In the long term we hope local and state governments will see the financial benefits to them and their constituents to funding the Library shortfall in income v’s expenses but until then, we hope a volunteer relationship manager can help us seek funding in both cash and in kind support from local residents and businesses.

• • • Relationships Manager.  Where are the people in our region who really believe in what we do?  Are they aware we need financial assistance until we formalise Library’s of Things as the new council/state government funded library of the future?  If you can help us tell our story to the people who can help us please get in touch.

If you would like to become an Active Member and have the time and passion to volunteer on average, 2 hours a fortnight then please text the Library of Stuff mobile and the acting co ordinator will get back to you to have a chat.

0490 957 899

In order to allow all items to be able to be booked back to back (really important for our most popular items) we require all returns to arrive in the FIRST HOUR of a session.  This allows for another member who has booked returning items to rely on them being ready to collect in the SECOND HOUR.

We have staggered our open times to try to suit more lifestyles.  As our capacity grows we hope to open more days.

It’s easy to imagine arriving to collect an item you have booked and the disappointment you would feel if the previous lender hadn’t returned it.  This could seriously impact your plans to go camping, do some DIY or organise the stuff you need to put on a party or fundraising event.  If you borrow items or book them then can’t for whatever reason return or collect the items as expected the system allows you to renew items or to cancel or change your reservation.  If any of the items are booked by another member the system will stop you from renewing them.  If you have trouble updating your reservation or extending a loan you MUST call or text the Library’s mobile so our volunteer team can assist you and notify other members if need be. Please add our mobile number to the contacts in your phone under the Library of Stuff – avoid emailing us as that creates additional work for our team.

0431 005 755

As a member you accept that borrowing instead of buying means you are making a sacrifice of convenience. 

We know from surveying our members that this effort is something they are pleased to make AS LONG AS the service is RELIABLE.

We rely on our members and our members rely on each other.

Once you are a paid up member you will see the Reserve button on each item you view in the inventory.  Once you have chosen the items to reserve in, you must go to the cart and submit it in a similiar fashion to an online shopping experience where you ‘go to the cart’ to complete your purchase.

We strongly recommend you view this  MyTurn cart instructional video on how to navigate this (thanks to our mates up in TOOLO in the Blue Mountains for sharing). Your reservation is only complete when you have received an email from My Turn, the software system we use to manage the Library’s operations. 

1. Please attend personally the first time you borrow stuff as we require sighting your photo ID and proof of address.  Once this has been done you are welcome to have other people pick up and return items on your behalf.  Please don’t ask a friend to drop an item back that is in poorer condition than when you borrowed it as that makes for the awkward situation where we ask that the person return it to you until you can attend to discuss the problem.
2. In order to book items our system requires that you record a payment method on your account.  Handling cash creates a significant administrative burden to our team so we prefer memberships are processed online.  You can make a direct transfer to our bank account and stipulate no payments are made on your card but having the card details on file is required.
3. When you join you will be required to sign our Liability Waiver and Term and Conditions.  Basically the use of Library items is at your own risk.  We ensure all electrical items are tested and tagged every three months and endevour to ensure all items are in a safe working condition.  It is up to you to know how to use the items.  If you are unfamiliar with power tools you wish to borrow we strongly recommend you do a half day Upskill course at Shedding Community Workshop.  We reserve the right to refuse to lend any items that we believe pose a risk to you or the item itself based on your knowledge of how to use and care for it.
4. If items are damaged or lost by you (general wear and tear excepted) you are expected to rectify the loss.  Please always advise the Library team immediately you become aware there is damage or loss.  Do not wait until the day the item is due back as another member may have booked it and be expecting it to be in good working order for them.  Call the Library mobile on 0431 005 755.

It’s really important that you receive and read email updates from the Library.  These are sent no more frequently than monthly and always include vital information as well as nice-to-know stuff.  All past emails can be found on the Communication page in the archives. Please subscribe below for future updates.