Our sharing libraries

 Sharing libraries

We have been sharing resources with our community since the day we took over management. We share our space, our help, our knowledge and skills, and we want to formalise this more. Although our booking system works perfectly for hall rentals, we need to expand our other sharing libraries.

Our tool library team made research visits to the Linlithgow Tool Library and transition Stirling's Library of Things, which helped expand our knowledge for our own sharing libraries. We are applying for additional support from the Community Learning Exchange to assist with various team visits. As members of the parent organisation, Circular Communities Scotland, we request endorsement, allowing us to share our experiences and foster collective growth and learning.

We are affiliated with both Circular Communities Scotland and Social Enterprise Scotland concerning our various sharing libraries. And zero-waste initiatives

The first sharing library we established focused on knowledge, skills, and time. The second was our catering equipment library, where we share catering equipment with all the groups that attend our hub. This collection is expanding rapidly, and we need to start working on an inventory to keep track of it.

Our next sharing library was for gardening tools, which we share with other community hubs and the surrounding community. One local resident was so impressed with the equipment he borrowed that he contributed some of his own tools and expressed interest in volunteering for us.

We then launched our tool library, which has received many donations, although its uptake has been slow. However, now that we have set a formal date for the Repair Café/workshop, we anticipate significant growth.

Recently, a young local band began using our hall space for regular practice. Coincidentally, we received a donation of guitars from our mental health and wellbeing group, which we found exciting. We also have speakers and microphones available for borrowing, and we plan to expand these resources into a music library. We have made contact with the wonderful Soup Broth, who has offered to assist us with knowledge sharing.

We are always grateful for donations, such as the catering equipment we received. Our hub features three different cooking areas, so there is always space for extra cooking equipment. Additionally, with over ten rooms, kettles and cups are always handy. Recently, a volunteer suggested creating an outdoor eating area, but we currently have limited volunteer hours to plan this.

We receive a mix of unique and thoughtful donations. For example, Mr. Gow made a gavel for our chairman using wood from a locally felled tree. One of the more unusual donations was a large model aeroplane from a man named John Ross, who came to the hub to see if he could leave it for the Model Flying Club that meets here once a month. The plane was quite large and needed some TLC, so we stored it until the club's meeting. They decided to auction it among the members present that evening to see who would take it home to their hangar. The plane had what is referred to in the club as “hangar rash.” The auction closed at £4, which was donated directly to the hub. We haven't decided how to spend this small fortune yet.but Monty, our mascot and zero waste champion, loved how we have helped save the plane from land fill

Perhaps we will put it towards our seed library project?. We borrowed Grangemouth Library's seed library for Apple Day but are hoping to establish our own very soon, ideally in time for our spring event. We also have many books donated, and as part of Scotland's Book Week, we received free books to give away again this year, which we placed on one of our eight spaced-out bookshelves. We aim to establish a book club that can look after our book library.