South Seattle Neighbor Builds Community With New Tool Library

From the Rainier Valley Post:

Next weekend, Lakeridge neighbor Sally Bailey will host the grand opening celebration for the new, hyper-local non-profit organization she’s created in an effort to help build community and increase equity in the Rainier Valley.

The Southeast Seattle Tool Library — a new 501c3 nonprofit organized to provide loaned tools and a shared community workshop for southeast Seattle — will officially open its doors to the community on Sat., May 16, from 10 am to 1 pm. The library is located at 4425 MLK, Jr. Way near Genesee.

When asked what motivated her to make the tool library her life’s work, Bailey said other areas of Seattle have had tool libraries for years and years, so why not the South End?

But she didn’t stop there. Bailey gave us five great reasons why the south-end needs its own tool library:

1. Tool libraries and community workshops bring people together to save the environment: Every tool borrowed is one that doesn’t have to be mined, produced, transported and purchased.
2. Every tool shared builds resiliency and helps the community maintain itself.
3. Every tool shared keeps money in the pockets of people so they can buy other necessities.
4. How-to classes builds skills and confidence among folks who hadn’t been exposed to the tools and techniques.
5. The world doesn’t need many more table saws. We do need more community. Helping each other is pretty easy. Let’s just do this!

This week, Bailey was kind enough to answer a few questions for your RVP’s People in Your Neighborhood column, a space dedicated to highlighting the unsung heroes of the southeast Seattle community. More.

This article was originally posted in the Rainier Valley Post and has been reposted here with permission.