Meet Tool Librarian Emily, one of the many great folks who keep the Denver Tool Library running!
10th Bday Month Tales: Workshop Opens & Then a Pandemic
Gather ‘round now while we tell some tales of times past. April 2025 is our 10th birthday month, so we’re going to reminisce with a chronology of grainy photos and stories that are at least 90% true. 🎉
10th Bday Month Tale #5: Did you know the Community Workshop opened in 2018, almost five years after the Tool Library?
Almost five years after the Tool Library opened, it was time to take the leap and get ourselves a front door. We expanded and took over the gallery space up front. We shuffled some things around, bought a bunch of very heavy workshop tools from a weird guy on Craigslist, and started to let people use them for whatever they wanted. It was the beginning of Open Shop, and it was weird lol. Things were much improved once we got our super handy and super helpful Shop Monitors. We also started trying out some of our first classes, like Cutting Boards and Hexagon Shelves w/ Sineah.
10th Bday Month Tale #6: Did you know we opened a drive-thru so people could still borrow tools during the pandemic?
Well, not quite a drive-thru. It was more like some plastic folding tables in front of the door that we called a drive-thru. We’d stack tools on it for people to pick up, and when they dropped them off, we’d spray them down with a lawn pump sprayer full of sanitizer from the city. In the winter the tools would freeze to the tables. In hindsight, we may have over-indulged in sign-making as a coping mechanism, giving the DTL drive-thru its distinct “the end is near” appearance.
Want to ensure this “cool concept” stays alive another 10 years?
Hiring! Part-Time Tool Librarian
The Denver Tool Library is hiring a Part-Time Tool Librarian who is flexible and available to pick up additional shifts on an as-needed basis, in addition to one set shift per week.
Deadline to Apply: Friday 4/18/25
Tool Librarians play a vital role in the Denver Tool Library as they are the first face someone sees when they come in to learn more about DTL, check out tools, learn about classes, and answer any incoming questions. Tool librarians are responsible for checking tools in and out for members, keeping the tool library clean and accessible, and fostering a welcoming environment for people to come in and learn about tools!
*Have enough job? Tell your friend!
10th Bday Month Tales: Lending Begins & Rooftop Bands
Gather ‘round now while we tell some tales of times past. April 2025 is our 10th birthday month, so we’re going to reminisce with a chronology of grainy photos and stories that are at least 90% true. 🎉
10th Bday Month Tale #3: Did you know that the whole Denver Tool Library used to be in the back half of the shop only (where the Workshop is now)?
Even though the $20,000 raised from membership pre-sales was more cash money than any of us had ever seen, we still had to be pretty scrappy. We could only afford to rent the back half of the shop (where the workshop is now) and still had to sublet a corner of it to screenprinter extraordinaire Arna Miller. Google maps would lead you to our secret back alley entrance. Our original sign was a cut up billboard found in the dumpster, and nobody got paid for years. BOY WE HAD FUN THOUGH!!! Our volunteers were truly truly amazing, so many generous people started donating tools to help us build our inventory, and members regularly brought us food and beer to help us survive.
10th Bday Month Tale #4: Did you know we used to have bands play on the roof during our First Friday parties?
Since everyone was a volunteer the first few years, we had to throw good parties. We got bands to play in our backlot, sometimes on the roof, and we’d serve drinks out of a poorly built particleboard structure that we called the “Clamp Shack.” For our first birthday party INCITE made us the big creepy baby that’s still hanging in the workshop. DTL First Friday morphed from live bands and vendors, to dj sets and stump, to mostly karaoke over the years. This year we’re doing First Friday Member Socials so everyone can get chatty about whatever they’re workin’ on. Everyone is welcome and members get a free drink 🍻and there will still be threes i bet, iykyk 🎲
Want to ensure this “cool concept” stays alive another 10 years?
Closed Easter Sunday, 4/20/25
The Denver Tool Library will be closed Sunday, April 20th 2025 for Easter Sunday.
Any tools due that day will be extended with no late fees so you can enjoy your tools a little longer.
Raffle Winners! First Friday 10th Bday
🏆RAFFLE WINNER INFO BELOW!🏆 Thanks to everyone who came to our First Friday Tenth Bday party despite it being cold and snowy. As the photos reveal - while we still don't know how to use our printer / spell right, we do know to shotgun a beer at 4pm if it springs a leak in the cooler. Best gift we got was a 10mm socket because of that trickster demon stealing them from every socket set on the planet.
Ok ok, enough reminiscing - we’ve got some RAFFLE WINNERS!! Drumroll plz..……
A brand new 10th anniversary t-shirt goes to... 🎟️662044 !!!
$150 in Class Bucks goes to... 🎟️662035 !!!
A year long Tool Library Membership goes to... 🎟️662054 !!!
If you have a lucky ticket, send a photo of your ticket to garrett@denvertoollibrary.org.
Bummed because you have no raffle ticket? Don't fret! We'll be doing raffles whenever we do a First Friday this year.
First Friday 4/4 10th Bday Party RAFFLE!
TOMORROW (or today, just hopefully not yesterday,) is our 10th birthday party - and we’re having a raffle!! We’ll be giving away Tool Library Memberships, classes and our brand new 10th anniversary shirts!✨
Stop by the shop between 5pm - 9pm 4/4/25 while perusing the First Friday Santa Fe Art District galleries. We'll have a Teacher Craft Fair, jamz, and tasty libations from New Belgium (if you’re a member, you get a free one).
10th Bday Month Tales: Bolt Cutters & The First Party
Gather ‘round now while we tell some tales of times past. April 2025 is our 10th birthday month, so we’re going to reminisce with a chronology of grainy photos and stories that are at least 90% true. 🎉
10th Bday Month Tale #1: Did you know that the Denver Tool Library started because the founder, Sarah, found some bolt cutters laying in the road?
After doing all the research and surveys and brainstorming with friends and making a pretty nifty binder with lots of tabs and sticky notes, she asked the universe for a sign if she should really pull the trigger on the DTL plan. Less than 30 minutes later, the universe bopped some bright yellow bolt cutters directly in her path. So really you can thank whoever’s truck the universe bumped those beautiful bolt cutters out of. They sacrificed a tool so that Denverites could share thousands of them 🫶
10th Bday Month Tale #2: Did you know that the DTL started entirely with $20,000 raised during a fundraiser?
After Sarah was inspired by some old bolt cutters she found on the road, she started an IndieGoGo campaign to raise seed money for the DTL. Slinging the “cool concept” of tool sharing, she managed to get people to buy their DTL memberships in advance of being open - raising $20,000! She threw a party for all of our Founding Members, whose names now hang on the wall in celebration of their pioneering spirits. That party is also where she met Garrett, who just showed up and stuck around so long that now he’s the assistant director.
Want to ensure this “cool concept” stays alive another 10 years?
What's That Tool? w/ Zach! (Video)
Borrow this tool and 6,000+ others for just $150/year.
Share the Tools Helps our Community
Did y'all know a percentage of all your tool library, class, open workshop hours, and gift bucks purchases go to helping folks and orgs afford tools?
A chunk of our total revenue, your Gold Memberships, and your donations hangout at a big pool party called the Share the Tools Fund which gets distributed via financial assistance. We have a rolling fundraiser through the 2025 that you can donate to now.
Thanks for helping the community!
