Updated: DTL Financial Assistance

We’ve made Financial Assistance for Tool Library Memberships and Classes easier to apply for than ever (Open Workshop Hours coming soon)!

We only have a small bit of funding at the moment, but we are always looking for grants and donors to contribute to our Financial Assistance Fund. As that fund grows, we will update these new pages to reflect who we can help and how much assistance people and organizations may able to receive.

If you would like to learn more about these programs, check out our updated Tool Library Financial Assistance page and our updated Classes Financial Assistance page.

Colorado Village Collaborative - Red Vest Day 2022

We are Raising Prices a Bit on 2/15. Lock In Our Current Prices Before Then!

It’s time for the DTL to raise some prices a bit to keep up with the times. Tool Library Memberships and Open Workshop Hours are going to be adjusted so we can continue to pay our staff fair wages and keep up with rising costs (see below). Classes will stay the same.

The good news is, the increase for a Standard Individual Membership is only an extra $2.50 per month (is that even a cup of coffee anymore?). Hopefully that’s a small impact on your end,* and it adds up to a big impact on ours. With this extra income we'll be able to do a lot to keep the DTL community strong, including....

  • Increase wages for the librarians and shop monitors you know and love.

  • Hire skilled staff to repair/maintain our heavily used tool inventory.

  • Keep up with this year’s rent increase, plus the rising cost of utilities, tools, and supplies.

  • Continue providing discounted and free memberships for low income folks and local organizations doing important work in our community.

*If these new prices are a strain to your economic situation, you can apply for Financial Assistance on our website.

You can also lock in our current prices if you’d like! From now till FEBRUARY 15th, you can buy a Tool Library Membership or buy an Open Workshop Punch Card at 2022 prices and redeem when you’re ready. If you have a current membership, we can add a full year to your current expiration date. Feel free to reply to this email if you have any questions about it!


As of February 15th, our new pricing will be…

TOOL LIBRARY MEMBERSHIPS

Standard Individual Membership: $150

GOLD Individual Membership: $250

Standard Household Membership: $200

GOLD Household Membership: $300

One Time Checkout: $40

Group Membership: $400

Group Membership GOLD: $600

*If you're a local nonprofit doing good work with a small budget, you can choose to apply to our Rad Orgz Membership Fund before you purchase! 



Open Workshop Hours

Open Workshop 10 Hours Punch Card: $165

Open Workshop Hourly - Members: $19/h

Open Workshop Hourly - Non-Members: $22/h

*Your current punch card will still work through 2023

2022 Impact - We've Saved Members $$$!

Well the math isn’t the BEST, but with about 10,000 tools checked out of the library in 2022 we estimate we’ve saved Denver Tool Library members about half a million dollars over the year! That’s not only a ton of money back in our members’ pockets, but it’s a lot fewer unused tools eventually ending up in the landfill, it’s a lot more home repairs made possible that otherwise would have been unaffordable, and it’s the ability for some members to pursue creative endeavors that they otherwise couldn’t.

We’re stoked y’all allowed us to make such a big impact in our community. Thanks for such a good year, and cheers to many more!

Brand New Class! Power Tool Petting Zoo: Women and LGBTQ folks

Power Tool Petting Zoo: Women and LGBTQ folks // 2.18.23

Reclaim the woodshop! In this class we invite women, gender-expansive, and LGBTQ folks to get comfy with drills, saws, nail guns, and more in a supportive, hands-on environment. If you have ever wanted to take a demolition hammer to the cis-hetero patriarchy, but nobody told you how to turn the thing on, this class is for you! 

With a spirit of low-stakes experimentation and camaraderie, we will explore hands-on opportunities with a variety of beginner-friendly tools that may include power drills, impact drivers, scroll saws, jig saws, band saws, miter saws, power sanders, and a few varieties of nail guns. No question is too basic, bring them all. You’ll walk away with the confidence to safely tackle and trouble-shoot a variety of projects, and maybe even make a few friends to help you make your DIY dreams a reality. 

About Your Instructor: Dani (they/them or she/her) has been DIYing since their teenage years, when their mom taught them how to safely use her miter saw in the family living room.  Dani spent nearly a decade working as a landscape contractor, has built two small backyard homes (a yurt and a 12x8 tiny home on wheels), and since moving to Denver has enjoyed learning to build furniture at DTL. They are excited to share the liberated feeling that comes with the tool know-how to build the thing you want, how you want it.

Happy New Year & Thank You So Much!

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR AN AMAZING 2022! We’ve come a LONG way since those exceptionally dark days of the pandemic when we, like so many other non-profits and small businesses, weren’t sure if we were going to make it. Thanks to all y’all who donated, bought memberships, took classes, came by the shop to drop off a 6 pack, and did anything else to support us big or small. Because of you we’re back on our feet and super energetic for a great new year. Looming recession and global collapse be damned - it’s going to be a fantastic 2023!

So, now that it’s a brand new year, what are your resolutions? Here's some very biased ideas: learn a new skill, fix up that old bathroom, be more creative. But who can help you accomplish such feats in 2023? Welllll wouldn't you know!

Sign up for a class, get yourself a tool library membership, and buy yourself some open workshop hours. This year is your year - you're gonna do great!

Community Workshop News! Mural, Air Filter, & People!

Community Workshop News!

1) If you haven’t seen it yet, our bland boring white walls have been taken over by our new galaxy lady who saws wood in space. THANK YOU SO MUCH ELENA GUNDERSON FOR THE RAD MURAL! @elenathunderson

2) Thanks to our fantastic volunteer Karl’s contribution, we bought a Powermatic Electrostatic Air Filtration System! This will make it easier to breath back there when the sanding/sawing gets crazy for classes and open workshop AND WE LOVE BREATHING.

3) The workshop has been busy and super fun! Come join the party or invite a friend to the party by buying them a workshop hours gift card for the holidays.

We'll be Closed Christmas Eve Through New Years Day

Get your thermoses, hot apple cider recipes, and secret bourbon flasks ready because holiday vacay is soon! There will still be classes going on, but the Tool Library and Community Workshop will be closed from 12/24/22 - 1/1/23.

Pro Tip: If you’re a maniac and are trying to get projects done during the break, it would behoove you to check out your tools during the week before we close because all late fees will be waived.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Knowing Your Home is Back! 1.23.23

Knowing Your Home is back! This class is designed to give you a foundational understanding of how the many systems of a house works, and this time it’s being taught by our hilarious resident tiling/plumbing teacher Dave Cooke and his home quality assurance pal Tim Lubbert. Between these guys they have two lifetimes of knowledge about home renovation, home inspection, and home repair so you’ll be hard pressed to come up with a question about your home that they can’t answer (yup - there’s a Q&A after class).

To go deeper into a house’s many parts, check out the rest of our classes in the Knowing Your Home Series.

Knowing Your Home Home Renovation Class // 1.23.23

Dave Cooke and Tim Lubbert will give brief explanations of a house’s various systems from the shingles on the roof to the sump pump in the basement and everything in between. They will discuss how all of these systems interact with each other to keep your lights on, water running, and climate controlled. You will leave class with a basic understanding of how your house works, what tools to carry so you can perform simple fixes, and when to call a contractor (and how to find the right one!) This discussion style class will be interactive, so come with lots of questions.

This class will discuss…

  • Electrical Systems: service entrance panel, 110v/220v, single phase/three phase circuit breakers, amps vs volts, GFI breakers, lighting, and ceiling fans.

  • HVAC Systems: heating, cooling, air humidification, filtration.

  • Plumbing Systems: water supply, faucets, toilets, water heaters, garbage disposals, drains.

  • Kitchens: countertops, cabinets, tile.

  • Roofs: repellant, leaks, ventilation.

  • Walls: structural frame, windows, doors, what walls are made of, and why paint matters.

  • Foundations: structure, moisture issues, drains, sump pump.

  • Structures: decks/porches.

  • Bonus!: how to find the right contractor, basic tools that won’t break the budget.

About Dave & Tim…

David Cooke taught home repair classes for twelve years. He wrote articles on home repair and improvement for a local magazine and appeared weekly on a television program in Boston as the "Resident Home Repair Guy" for two years. David ran his own home repair and improvement business for most of the last 30 years.

Tim Lubbert’s career for the last 2 decades has centered on quality assurance of single-family to large multi-family construction and development projects. Tim’s job on behalf of owners, builders, and/or insurers is to guarantee that the building “envelope” has been constructed according to plans and specifications and that in particular, every roof, wall, door, window, foundation will be resistant to moisture, whether driven by weather or sub-soil conditions. Tim is the homebuyer’s guardian angel.

What People Say about Dave’s Classes….

"David was hilarious. Also I feel much more confident."

"Incredible amount of information and practice for 3 hours without feeling overwhelming."

"Instructor was fantastic, kept the jokes coming and made the time fly by!"

"Instructor was very knowledgeable and engaging"

We Do Private, Group, & Team Building Classes!

Book a Private Class at the Denver Tool Library!

Looking for a unique gift for your partner or family? Perhaps your group is taking on a building project and needs to learn some tool basics? Or maybe you’re just looking to have some fun with your company? Well forget a trust fall - give your coworker a circular saw in one of our private classes!

Why Book Your Event With Us?

We might be bias, but our classes are definitely the best group activities in Denver! Not only are they a lot of fun, they also encourage creativity, collaboration, and will pass on practical skills to your group that will last a lifetime. With dozens of different types of workshops to choose from we are sure to offer something your party would like. By choosing us you’ll also be supporting local craftspeople, artists, and a non-profit that strives to put tools in the hands of all folks and organizations regardless of income.

"You can take away anything from a man - his wealth and health and suchlike - but you can't take away his craftsman skills." -Happy People, Werner Herzog

Go GOLD When You Renew Your Membership

Here's an easy way to help your community get affordable tools: When you renew or buy a tool library membership, ask to go gold! The bit of extra money it costs goes toward discounted/free memberships for people and orgs who need them. As a sweet perk you’ll get a photo of yourself put on our gold member wall so everyone knows how outstanding you are. You even get to meet and pose with Werner Herzog if you’d like.

"Civilization is like a thin layer of ice upon a deep ocean of chaos and darkness." -Werner Herzog