The Auckland Library of Tools, at 21 Newton Road in Grey Lynn, is a not-for-profit lending library where members borrow tools instead of buying them. It is run by volunteers and holds more than 1,600 tools, from drills and power tools to garden equipment, camping gear, woodwork and textile tools, and cooking and sewing items. Members can borrow up to 10 tools at a time for a week and renew up to twice, if nobody else has booked them. Chainsaws, chippers and lawn mowers are popular, so the library asks people to book them in advance. Tools go back clean and charged, and members are asked to report anything that does not work.
Membership covers most of the collection, and a small daily fee applies to cordless and high-maintenance tools. Students, community members and gold card holders get concession rates. The library holds a monthly repair café, where volunteers look at broken household items. It is closed on public holidays and long weekends.
Our pick in Grey Lynn for a one-off job like a fence or a garden clean-up, with no tools to buy.