permaculture

["wenshidi@yahoo.co.uk" <wenshidi@yahoo.co.uk>]

It is good to hear that there are quite a few progressive lending libraries 
out there.

You guys seem to be thinking about this from a large urban perspective, 
wheras I was was coming from a rural backwter location, where a library would 
be started from scratch.  The two different outlooks make for good 
brainstorming.

Here are a few other non book items that I was thinking about.

Tools - garage, workshop, kitchen, construction, cycleshop, joinery, 
plumbing, garden implements, generators, cleaning equipment eg jet sprays
Sporting and recreational equipment - fishing gear, board games, team sports 
equipment
Cameras and recording equipment
Specialist dining ware and party ware.
Scientific equipment - microscopes, soil testers, analysis tools, metal 
detectors
Traps, pest control and fencing
Seasonal items - eg Christmas lights and decorations
Metaphysical items - crystals, pyramids, dowsing equipment

Would anybody care to expand or add to these basic categories?  I am sure 
that I must have missed quite a few.

I also like the idea of seeds in a library and wondered if this could be 
expanded to livestock, fish and insects.  If you need a chicken tractor for a 
couple of weeks, just head down to the library.

All of this raises a couple of issues.
A book library is only 10% efficient unless there is an experienced, 
knowledgable librarian on hand to guide and recommend.  I have noticed this 
especially in China, where there are well stocked libraries, but all the 
staff around are there because of some family connection, rather than any 
related skill.  What is the point in having a library of English books if you 
do not have an English speaker to staff it?  I am sure that the same must be 
true for tool libraries.  What is the point in having an arc welder available 
if there is nobody around to show you how to use it?

There is also the subject of usage.  In my limited experience with a tool 
library, nearly all the tools were supplied by a small core group.  Tools 
would get borrowed and come back worn, and in need of repair and maintenace.  
This responsibilty would alwys fall upon the small core group who quickly got 
tired of such a raw deal.

I wonder if a ratio system would work, similar to the private torrent tracker 
sites that have sprung up all over the internet in the past few years.  At 
these sites (which are mainly video, audio or ebooks) you need to keep a good 
ratio.  That means you need to share (upload) as much as you take (download). 
 This stops what they refer to as leechers, from continuously taking but 
sharing nothing in return, and seems to work very well.

This would obviously be more difficult for physical items but maybe it could 
work using a system based on item value plus length of time donated.  So 
therefore if donated a 5 dollar book to the libray for say one year, then you 
would be able to borrow a five dollar item for the same period.  If you 
donated a bulldozer, then obviously you would able to borrow a lot more 
smaller items in return.  Would this work?  It might take a bit of 
organising, but with modern spreadsheets, it should be quite simple to 
control.

Talking of metaphysical libraries, you freinds might want to take a look at a 
private torrent tracker called www.theoccult.bz

Chris

--- On Sat, 12/4/10, Jody Troupe <jodyt2@mac.com> wrote:

> From: Jody Troupe <jodyt2@mac.com>
> Subject: Re: [permaculture] the evolution of lending libraries
> To: "permaculture" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Date: Saturday, December 4, 2010, 1:24 AM
> Hello-
> 
> I don't know if anyone else out there has connections to
> Santa Fe? This is what I learned from a friend of mine that
> lives out there.
> 
> She bought a house in an area of Santa Fe that is called
> The Agua Fria Traditional Historic Community. She said it
> has been very interesting living in that neighborhood
> because there is a LOT of sharing between families. It's my
> understanding that the houses are primarily held by a
> spanish-speaking community and entire generations of
> families may own the houses down the length of a road, so
> they will build one garage on someone's land that is
> designated for some significant tool, like a snow plow, or
> back hoe, and then whenever someone needs it, they have it
> available to the community. Everyone chips in to build the
> garage, and then there is sharing amongst them when that
> tool is needed. (I believe they are also annexed from the
> city such that they don't receive city services such as snow
> plowing. Don't quote me on that though, but that's what I
> remember hearing.)
> 
> I live in the FL keys, and there is a group that studies
> metaphysics, spiritual, and other information that you don't
> readily find in libraries. Two women have organized a weekly
> meeting of people covering a wide range of topics that's
> been ongoing for about 8 years, and they include a lending
> library within this structure. Any of my rather 'fringe'
> information may make it to their library so others may
> benefit from it, and then I still know where I can go back
> to find it again if I want to reference it. We had been
> taking books to our library with the idea we could always
> check them out if we wanted, and then found out that the
> library culls anything they don't consider very relevant to
> their location and has a book sale each year. This more
> 'specific' lending library is a much better location for our
> reference material.
> 
> JodyT
> 
> 
> On Dec 3, 2010, at 11:03 AM, wenshidi@yahoo.co.uk
> wrote:
> 
> > In my research on the keys to successful resilient
> communities, two important elements seem to be complementary
> currencies and lending libraries.
> > 
> > In the 21st century, a lending library should be about
> a whole lot more than books.  We have all seen CDs and
> DVDs of course, and this will continue to grow as the
> internet spreads audio and video files, and hard drive
> capacity continues to grow.  But what about the lending
> of more physical items, such as tools and equipment.
> > 
> > Has anybody seen any good examples of extended
> lending, or have any good ideas about what else could be
> commonly owned in a community, and lent out to its memebrs?
> > 
> > Chris
> > 
> > 
> > 
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