OF THINGS?
Like a library of books, a Library of Things lends various physical items to its members. Our
Library of Things is called ‘Ilkley Thingery’.
All money taken for borrowing
from membership fees is reinvested in the Thingery, initially to pay for rent, bills, and maintenance of Things in the library.
Any excess money received will be used to develop the project or buy more Things
for the library.
Borrowing
instead of buying can make a big difference to your carbon footprint.
The cost of buying Things in our
library can be as much as £200-£300 or c. £2,000 (for the mobility scooter, for
example), such as our carpet cleaner or some of the power tools. By
borrowing them for less than £20 a week, you could save around £250, especially
if you only it borrow once or twice a year. We maintain and repair everything
in the library, removing the cost of ordinary maintenance and repair from you. Our
concessionary membership provides a 75% discount on
borrowing for those who qualify for that membership.
Have you ever felt frustrated by
the fact that something you use once in a blue moon, takes up so much space in
your house or garage? Or do you struggle to fit your lawnmower back in the shed
every time you use it? Borrowing instead of buying these kinds of Things is a
great way to save space in your home.
Many of our items are kindly
donated by the Ilkley community, and we now have a small number of volunteers
who help in the library. Being a member of Ilkley Thingery, whether you are a
regular borrower, volunteer or supporter of our ethos, helps to grow and
strengthen the community of Ilkley.
We have a wide range of Things in our library,
some of which are useful or practical, and other that are fun or entertaining. The
following ten categories of Things are the ones that were used when the
Thingery first opened (there are now a growing number of categories of Things
in our library). The Thingery will stock Things that people want to borrow. As the library develops, more things are added to our stock. If you want us to stock something that isn't currently in the library, contact Erika (erika.shilling@ilkleythingery.org) with details of the Thing(s) you'd like to borrow from the library.
*View our full list of Things
here:
" target="_blank">https://www.ilkleythingery.org
There are criteria for deciding
what things are stocked, which are created and developed by the project
manager, Erika. These include the following:
YES
NO
If you have something to donate,
please email me (Erika) at erika.shilling@ilkleythingery.org or library-of-things@climateactionilkley.org.uk to see
whether or not we can accept the donation. Please DO NOT bring things to the
Thingery without emailing first to check whether your Things are wanted - we can't take all your unwanted things, and we are not a disposal service.
For
Things that we are specifically looking for to add to the library, see our Wish List, which contains Things that
have been requested by members, and Things that we need to keep the Things in
our library ready to use.
Many of the Things in the library come from cupboards
and garages within our local community - in using the Thingery, you are using Things that might otherwise be lying around not being used, or possibly even thrown away.
Some of the Things in Ilkley Thingery are borrowed from people in our community (you can store some of your Things in the Thingery, and allow other people to borrow them through the Thingery (if we have room, contact me for details: erika.shilling@ilkleythingery.org) - the funds from these borrowed Things help to pay rent, bills and maintenance costs).
In working like this we can make the most of Things already in circulation, rather than buy and waste more Things. Doing
this helps to reduce individual consumption, helps the planet and helps
to develop and strengthen our community.
Occasionally I use some of the funds raised from your membership and borrowing, local sponsorship,
donations and sales to buy new or second-hand Things that will be
useful to the community.
Yes! If we think the item will
be popular and borrowed often, we’ll either add to our wish list to see if anyone has one
they can donate, or we will buy a new or second hand one to add to the library
(email Erika at library-of-things@climateactionilkley.org.uk).
Various factors are considered when
setting borrowing fees, including new purchase price, quality, condition, etc. Prices
are capped to ensure we’re well within market value. Supporter members (Plus
& Premium) receive 25% discount on borrowing fees. Low Income members and
students receive a 75% discount on borrowing fees, helping us to be accessible
to all.
We ask borrowers to flag any
damage they notice as soon as possible. This kicks off the repair process and
also ensures the next borrower is not let down. We repair what we can, and recycle as much as we can. We
understand that Things will break eventually and we don’t charge members for ordinary
wear and tear. However, we do reserve the right to charge members for repair or replacement if Things are
deemed to have been broken by misuse or neglect.
We know Things can stop working
through wear and tear, and that many times this isn’t due to intentional
carelessness, neglect or mistreatment. If you borrow something that isn’t working
well, be honest and let us know. We won't charge you for wear and tear, but we
reserve the right to charge you for carelessness, neglect or wilful damage. You
are responsible for taking care of the Things you borrow from us – read the Borrowers Agreement; You agree to it
every time you borrow something from us.
All electrical Things are
PAT-tested when they enter the library, and every time they are returned after
being borrowed (please don’t tightly coil up the flexes – it’s not helpful, they
need to be unwound for the PAT test). In addition, as far as possible, we test Things
to see if they work before they ‘go live’ on the catalogue. We ask previous
borrowers if Things are still in good working order when they return them. We
loan all our Things in good faith believing that they work as intended. That
said, things do sometimes fail, we sometimes may not spot an imperfection, and
so on. In this case we might offer to refund the credit to your account or
offer a replacement. If you borrow something that isn't working as it should,
please let us know the details immediately so that we can deal with the problem
as best we can.
DO NOT EVER attempt to fix our Things
– you are NOT permitted to do so. You will be charged for any damage you cause
by attempting to fix our Things, or for the full cost of replacing anything you
damage.
1. Register with us.
2. Then Select a Membership Type - follow the link in the email you receive
after Registering with us.
3. Once you are a member, you can borrow Things from us by logging in to
your account.
* You MUST be a member of the
Thingery before you can borrow, for insurance cover.
No. You must complete the two-stage
registration process to become a member.
No – you can come from as far as you like.
If you’re travelling to or through Ilkley for other things, it can make sense to borrow from us, even if you don’t live locally; sometimes its better than buying new.
We want to make borrowing fair,
friendly and fun. All our borrowers must
agree to these 5 simple rules of borrowing:
Become a
member of
Ilkley Thingery. You can then make a reservation online by signing in to your
account on our website, finding the Thing you want to borrow, and clicking
‘Reserve’ on the item you want. Then select a date for pick up and return the
an on-screen calendar. If you want to add more items to this reservation,
simply add more Things to your basket. When you've selected everything you
want, click ‘Reserve’.
You can also phone during opening hours (01943
513818) or email us (libraryofthings@climateactionilkley.org.uk) if you are having any issues
reserving online and need us to reserve it for you.
Note: You MUST sign in to your
account to reserve Things through your account. If you don’t log in, the system
doesn’t know who you are.
Yes. However, payment is
taken when Things are collected - the person collecting will need to pay for
the item unless you have attached a card to your account that can be used. You
can add credit to your account, to be used for payment on collection. If you
haven't added credit to your account, the person collecting will need to pay
for the item.
Not at present, but they might
be provided as an option in future.
There is no maximum
borrowing time.
Log in to your account on our
website, and click on your username in the top right corner. Click on ‘Loans’.
You can then find the reservation you want to cancel, click on it to open that,
and find the cancel button onscreen - click ‘Cancel’. If you need help, drop
us an email or give us a call during our opening hours.
If you need to extend your loan,
first, check nobody else has reserved the Thing by logging in to your account
and attempting to extend your loan. If your Thing is available, you can select
the additional days you need it for and extend your loan. If your Thing has
been booked by another member, you’ll have to return it at the time it is due
back, or email us if that's not possible to let us know what's happened.
If the Thing is not returned or
extended, we will charge a daily late fee. We do this to encourage the items to
be ready for other borrowers, and to encourage you to return Things on time to
the library.
Be honest about what has
happened so we can start looking for a replacement or fix. For higher value
items that require a deposit, or for Things that belong to other members (many
of our Things have been loaned to us), we might charge you for the full cost of
a replacement.
The first time you borrow you
will need to bring photo proof of who you are and of your address (e.g., a
driving licence or passport and utility bill). If you have no photo ID., we might
accept two non-photographic forms of ID (e.g., a utility bill and a bank
statement).
If you have signed up for the
Concessionary membership we will need to see proof of benefits received or
student status (e.g., Jobseekers Allowance, PIP, Universal Credit, Pension
Credit or Income Support from within the last 3 months).
Prices displayed on the website are the per-day
price for a Standard member unless you're logged in to your account - if you're
logged in, you'll see the price per day for your membership.
The platform that hosts our
website can only show one price per Thing (i.e., either daily, or weekly, or every
two days, etc.). Prices are shown for a one-day borrow. Prices for other time
periods are being added to the item description (this is a work in progress –
it will take a while to work through the catalogue. There are LOTS of jobs to
do to get the library running and up to date. If you want to volunteer your
time to help, get in touch. If you don’t want to help, be patient whilst the website is developed - there are many hours of work required to develop this project and complete many jobs you can't/ don't see). If you want
Things for a longer period the price is often adjusted so that it's attractive
to borrow from us rather than buying Things.
Prices depend on several factors;
among these are the quality and condition of Things. If you see two similar
drills priced differently, for example, this might be because one is of
better quality or in better condition than the other.
You pay for membership and
borrowing online via card. Our payment processing provider is Stripe. Stripe is
a PCI Service Provider Level 1, which is the highest grade of payment processing
security. You can also pay with cash if you paid for membership and previous
loans using a card. If you are having difficulty making a payment, please
contact Erika at library-of-things@climateactionilkley.org.uk.
Public book libraries are free
at the point of borrowing, but they are paid for in your Council Tax. The
Thingery charges to cover its expenses.
Any Things not returned on time
will be charged a £3 fee for each day after the date they were due to be
returned. It is therefore very important that you contact us if you feel you
won’t be able to get your item(s) back on time; Either call us during open
hours on 01943 513818, or email Erika outside of open hours at libraryofthings@climateactionilkley.org.uk.
If for any reason you do not
come and collect your item at your arranged time, you may still be charged for
the loan. This is because by reserving the item you will have made it
unavailable for other members to reserve during that time. If for any reason
you think you will NOT be able to collect your items on time, please let us
know in good time so that we can rearrange collection or make the item
available for others. You can either call us during open hours on 01943 513 818
or email Erika outside of open hours at libraryofthings@climateactionilkley.org.uk.
We are unable to provide a
cleaning service due to lack of facilities, lack of volunteers and lack of time,
so we rely on each borrower to bring Things back in the condition they were in
when you borrowed them (or cleaner). If an item is deemed to have been returned
in an unsatisfactory state, you will be charged a cleaning fee.
A refundable cleaning deposit is
taken when you borrow Things from us – if you return Things clean, that will be
refunded to you. If you return Things in need of cleaning, that will be kept to
cover cleaning (it takes time to clean the Things you don’t clean).
We ask borrowers to flag any
damage they notice as soon as possible. This kicks off the repair process and ensures
the next borrower is not let down. We understand that items will break
eventually and we don’t charge members for these types of breakages. However,
we do reserve the right to charge for Things that are deemed to have been
broken by misuse, carelessness or neglect; in that case, members will be asked
to either pay for the repair or pay the cost of replacing the Thing that’s been
broken.
As well as the most obvious
thing of becoming a member and borrowing from us, there are a few other things
you can do to support us:
We are in favour of attempts to
waste less, move towards “zero waste” and develop the sharing economy. Beyond
using our Library you can support our mission in your own life by making
efforts to consume fewer things and waste less. Here are some ideas:
Yes. Please contact Erika at library-of-things@climateactionilkley.org.uk if you have items you wish
to donate to find out whether we’ll accept them.
Possibly. Please contact Erika at library-of-things@climateactionilkley.org.uk to discuss details.