Serving the servers
Grant offers free month of tools (and more!) for local hospitality workers

Got projects but no tools, let alone space to store them all? If you’re a member of the local service industry – of which an estimated 42% of the local workforce is – you’re in luck.

Thanks to a unique partnership between the Durango Tool Library and In the Weeds, a local nonprofit supporting restaurant, service and hospitality workers in Southwest Colorado, you can now borrow the tools of your DIY dreams for a month for absolutely free.

“They get a free month, really, no strings attached,” Tenny Webster, owner of the Durango Tool Library, said.

The program is made possible through a Destination Advancement Grant from Visit Durango (now absorbed by the City of Durango.) The mission of the grant was to further strengthen La Plata County as a socially and environmentally sustainable destination.

“We do not cater to tourists, but we thought, what if we turned it around and said, ‘Look, we would love to support the people who support the tourists,’” Webster said. 

Because, let’s face it – most of these workers are scraping by, something Webster and partner Kathleen Gollner, who together founded the Tool Library in 2021, know well from their days as library science students in Vancouver, B.C. “We were dirt poor, living in this 140-square-foot apartment in Chinatown,” Webster said. “Even if we could afford our own tools, there was no space to store them.”

Webster said he and Gollner had thought about going after a grant, even though technically they are not a nonprofit organization. They are instead what’s known as a public benefit corporation – a for-profit/nonprofit hybrid that allows companies to pursue social or environmental causes while still making a profit for the owners. 

“We’d been talking about going after a grant for a while and figured we may as well give it a shot because we’re doing a good public service,” Webster said. “We felt like maybe if we can help the hospitality and service workers in La Plata County, and Durango specifically, make their lives a little easier, would that not help improve people’s experience when they came to visit?”

Webster said he knew getting the grant might be a long shot. Which is where In the Weeds came in.

“It was all possible because of our partnership with In the Weeds. They are perfectly positioned to reach our target. We worked with them in terms of what the grant would look like,” he said.

And after more than a year of work, they found out this spring the grant had been approved. “It was kind of a shot in the dark, but they loved it,” Webster said.

The grant allows the Tool Library to give out “mini grants” for a free month of tool rentals (regularly $35 for first-time members) to up to 200 people through the end of the year. The only requirements are that participants be La Plata County residents and employed in the service or hospitality industry.

Vouchers are available at the Tool Library (278 Sawyer Dr., Unit 4A in Bodo Park) or through In the Weeds (intheweedsco.org.) The Tool Library and In the Weeds also have handed flyers out directly to restaurants and businesses and tried to spread the word via ads and social media. 

Since launching the program about a month ago, Webster said there have been about a dozen folks who’ve taken advantage of the offer. The most money anyone has saved was about $1,500, which is definitely more than a shift’s tips. “But even if you come in and just check out a carpet cleaner and get your rental deposit back, that’s pretty huge,” he added.

The grant also allowed the Tool Library to secure more items, including: a ladder; an additional carpet cleaner; a cordless string trimmer (aka a weed whacker); an additional food dehydrator; and an impact wrench (used to remove extra stuck bolts, especially handy when working on cars, apparently.)

And if you’ll allow us to digress for a moment, we dare you to go into the Tool Library and not find something you need. Their assortment of more than 485 tools and tool sets is a handyperson’s (or wanna be handyperson’s) dream, including but not limited to: pressure washers; bike tools; ski-tuning tools; baking needs; electronics repair; sewing machines (including an industrial one that can “go through four or five layers of denim”); miter saws; a beam cutter; electric and push lawnmowers; chainsaws; air compressors; and, of course, power tools, doohickeys, widgets and thingamajigs galore.

Wanna change your own motor oil? They got that. Spring form pan for your first foray in Martha Stewarting? Got that, too. Hammerschlagen? Yep (but not to check out, just for fun.)

There are even fruit-tree gleaning kits for those of us cursed, er, blessed with a natural abundance of say, millions of teeny, tiny apricots that explode into a sticky mess on impact when hitting the ground.

“You can glean your fruit and then use the fruit dehydrator to save it,” Webster said.

In fact, Webster is pretty hard-pressed to think of anything the Tool Library doesn’t have – “There’s literally anything you can imagine here” – although an orbital floor sander and hydraulic press (of which we haven’t the foggiest) top the wish list. Speaking of which, there is a bulletin board at the library whereby members can suggest and “vote” for new tools (currently, a new sewing table is in the lead.)

He also added that the library is in the process of phasing out gas-powered tools in favor of electric ones, although some of the chainsaws (which were donated) still use gas.

Webster said the library gets about half of its tools through donations. Often, someone will buy a tool for a specific project – as was the case with the library’s floor nailer (rumored to be the only one in town) – then once done, will donate it. This helps not just keep costs down but with the tool-operation learning curve as well.

“A lot of times they’ll be able to show me how it works or answer questions,” he said.

It’s intel that Webster is happy to pass along to members.

“We try to lower the barrier to entry so people feel like they can try things,” Webster said. “If we have time, and we’re not totally swamped, we’ll just grab some wood or whatever and do a demonstration, and they can try it themselves.”

He also added that about half of the library’s members are women. He said the library serves every generation, too, except those under 18 (sorry, insurance.) 

“When we opened three and a half years ago, we were hoping this would be a place where people who are not familiar with tools could feel good about coming in and not feel like they’re getting talked down to. And it’s kind of been borne out. It’s great.”

Down the road, Webster envisions growing the tool collection to a thousand or more – all tools, mind you, that aren’t collecting dust in your over-crowded garage or shed.

“It’d be great to not allow anyone an excuse to buy anything to stuff in the garage and leave it for five years,” he said.

The Durango Tool Library is currently open Wednesday-Sunday, and memberships start at $25/month with a $10 startup fee. For more info., go to: durangotoollibrary.com.