September’s Volunteer Spotlight: Carlee Avery
Carlee Avery, a University at Buffalo student from Rochester, joined The Tool Library this summer through the SUNY Empire State Service Corps (ESSC) and has become a core member of the shop. With a passion for sustainability, she helps with all things in the shop (and may have even served you food at Borrow, Build, […]
A Legal Victory for the Right to Repair!
Last month, the Federal Trade Commission won a major victory for the Right To Repair movement. The tractor company John Deere agreed to a settlement in which for the next 10 years they must give farmers and independent shops access to the same repair tools, software, and technical resources they provide to authorized dealers. Before […]
The Tool Library’s Present
The Tool Library, Past, Present, and Future . . . In celebration of 15 years of sharing and community, in gratitude for 4 years in our forever home at 2626 Main Street, and in anticipation of our staged renovations of that welcome shelter over the next several years, The Tool Library is offering a small […]
This Month’s Volunteer Spotlight: Cole Lowman and James Rizzi
Farewell to Board Member Cole Lowman and Communications Committee Member James Rizzi, who have just moved with their two young sons, Ernie and Emmett, to the Boston area to take up new teaching jobs at Curry College in Milton, Massachusetts. Cole is a professor of African-American literature and rhetoric and composition who took their Ph.D. […]
The Tool Library, Past, Present, and Future…
In celebration of 15 years of sharing and community, in gratitude for 4 years in our forever home at 2626 Main Street, and in anticipation of our staged renovations of that welcome shelter over the next several years, The Tool Library would like to offer a small series of reflections on our neighborhood and our […]
This Month’s Volunteer Spotlight: Emily Li
Emily Li is a real estate agent who also enjoys volunteering and learning all things home repair. As a shop regular and service day extraordinaire, Emily has put our tools to the test in both her home and community. While she is new to our board, she’s no stranger to The Tool Library. How would […]
This Month’s Volunteer Spotlight: Amanda Ruby!
Amanda Ruby is a software engineer who also enjoys reading lots of books, cross-stitching, video gaming, and exploring local history. While she is new to a lot of the tools in stock, learning how to use them is one of her favorite things about volunteering at the Tool Library. Amanda fell in love with the […]
This Month’s Spotlight: Nick Cullis!
There’s a strong possibility you’ve already met Nick at one of the Tool Library’s Dare to Repair events, but we wanted to take a moment this month to introduce him as our newest hire, an In-Shop Repair Tech! What is a Repair Tech, you ask? Well, in Nick’s words, he’s a fixer – someone who’ll […]
Moms of The Tool Library
Lynne Cotton, mother of our Executive Director Darren Cotton, and Louise Manista, mother of our Board President, Melanie Rushforth, not only put in the work to raise these kids but instilled in them the ethic and ethos that has made the Tool Library what it is today. For that, they deserve our recognition and gratitude! […]
This Month’s Volunteer Spotlight: Celebrate our new Committee Members!
At the end of last year we put out a call for new volunteers to our standing Committees—Communications, Development, Finance, Governance, Programs, Operations, and Spatial Planning—the critical human tools for turning our ideas into action. We were rewarded with an outpouring of exciting applications, and we’ve now welcomed these new members to our regular Committee […]