Nonprofit uses tools to do good in 2020
The Minnesota Tool Library works to support its community through new projects.
By Corbin Casassa and David Scheil | Reporters
The Minnesota Tool Library lost about 300 members due to the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. The work it does, however, has only increased in 2020. MTL executive director Kate Hersey believes in the power of her organization to do good as a community, and she strives to continue doing that even amidst the turmoil of 2020.
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, an MTL member himself, commissioned the tool library to build 500 desks for distance learning students in the St. Paul Public School system after he saw a similar project in California. The tool library has received $10,000 in funding from the CARES Act to pay for the supplies needed to build the 500 desks.
“We’re building nice, sleek, modern, cubby-style desks that will fit in any apartment, any elementary school bedroom,” Hersey said. “Having a dedicated workspace is one of those measures of success for distance learning, and it’s also something that has been an additional burden on families in this time.”
The Space To Learn project, designed to make desks, is one example of how the tool library is doing good in the Twin Cities community during the events of this year.
Homeowners use tools for everyday projects, but buying tools for every project can end up costing thousands of dollars. The Minnesota Tool Library solves this problem, with more than 5,000 tools available at a low membership cost.
MTL currently has two branches: one in NorthEast Minneapolis and the other in the Hamline-Midway Neighborhood in St. Paul. Their number of members was 1300 in 2019, and has since dropped to about 1000 in 2020. Financially, the tool library has taken a hit from this in 2020 because 60 percent of its budget comes from the membership fees.
Katheryn Schneider, the secretary for MTL, has been a member at the tool library since its “humble beginnings” at the NorthEast branch in Minneapolis. Schneider, a retiree, volunteers at the library and serves on the board.
“I don’t know if there’s a job that the tool library has that I haven’t done,” Schneider said.
The goal of the tool library is to support the community by providing access to a variety of tools at a low membership cost while helping the environment by reducing waste.
“I think that a tool library is a great thing not for the suburbs, but for the city,” Schneider said. “In the city, we are all closer together. I feel like the city is just more inclined to [share tools].”
MTL also wants to build relationships by providing personal experiences instead of corporate transactions. Some ways they accomplish this are by providing training classes and a workshop for members.
“We’re really built on that personal interaction,” Hersey said. “Historically that’s been our strong suit, so, as an organization, we had to swap how we thought about how we engage our members. Figuring out different ways to collect people’s stories and be able to share that, and helping to keep our members inspired to engage in the community.”
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the tool library has had to find new ways to engage and support its community, Hersey said. The community is a critical aspect of the organization, with the majority of the library’s income coming from membership fees. The MTL is one of three multi-branch tool libraries in the world. During the pandemic, they have gotten multiple requests each month to start a tool library elsewhere.
“We generally don’t have people joining who aren’t committed to our mission,” Hersey said. “Whether it’s the community building piece, whether it’s the equity piece, whether it’s the waste reduction, eco green piece. People are tied to that larger mission.”
