The Station North Tool Library is so much more than tools. Here are just a few of the thousands of stories of lives that make up our community. If you have a story to share, please let us know at info@toollibrary.org!
Kate
Owner, Bliss Woodworks
“Pretty soon after taking woodworking classes at SNTL, people started asking me to make small things– cutting boards or trays. Then someone said they wanted a 9-foot dining room table and I said yes.”
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Kate’s wife gave her a cutting boards class at SNTL as a gift in 2015, and the rest is history.
A beginner woodworker, Kate quickly took all the available classes and, less than a year later, was teaching those same classes in addition to volunteering as a librarian. Since 2016, she has taught more than 800 people, and loves sharing the joy and excitement of woodworking with others.
Reflecting on her first time in the shop, Kate remembers, ”Using the big tools in the shop felt fuckin’ cool. I find that working with tools actually quiets my mind – it requires focus and concentration on the task at hand. So sure I was nervous, but also found this other thing."
In 2016, Kate made the jump to full-time carpentry and opened her own business, Bliss Woodworks, where she creates custom furniture and home goods.
Dale
New Greenmount West Community Association
“I’m grateful to the people who stood up the tool library and the volunteers who keep it going. Our neighborhood is blessed with good-natured people who bring their bodies and their minds to make everyone’s lives better.”
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You might call Dale the godfather of the Station North Tool Library. At a community association meeting in 2012, he met SNTL founders John and Piper as neighbors, and they talked about the need for affordable tools to share. He became one of the first members of the new library.
A resident and leader in our neighborhood since 1988, Dale had already been lending tools casually for years to help neighborhood volunteers maintain public spaces.
Now, he uses SNTL tools to maintain 25 green space lots in Greenmount West and Station North, in addition to more than 50 others in neighboring communities.
Whatever you call him, Dale is a champion for tool lending. “This can be done in any jurisdiction,” he says. “Anywhere people have decided they want to be more self- reliant and want the freedom and confidence to do it themselves.”
Rosie
Member Since 2020
“If I’m out and talking about the tool library a lot of people say ‘Oh I’m not very handy, that wouldn't be for me.’ That’s exactly why it IS for you. I’m not naturally handy either, that’s the whole point.”
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Rosie is a familiar face around the tool library. In just over three years, she’s taken nearly every class available, and has racked up over 75 hours in the wood shop working on her own projects.
While she still rents her home, Rosie hopes to own one day, and has found a lot of satisfaction in home care classes. “I felt like the things that were going on in my walls were mystifying and almost scary,” she reflects. “The plumbing class made me feel safe and empowered– like I can really do this.” Just a few weeks later, she returned home to the overwhelming smell of gas in her apartment. Thanks to that plumbing class, she knew to stay calm and how to find the gas shutoff.
Thanks to the craft and woodworking classes she’s taken, Rosie was also able to make gifts for all of her family and friends last year, from hand-dipped beeswax candles to picture frames and cutting boards. She hopes to one day host a dinner party for her loved ones featuring 100% handmade objects and food-- a true DIY dream!
Natalia
First Librarian
“It’s an easy place to like. Everyone here just wants to help…. There aren’t that many places where you can just be nice and caring. Wayward, misfit people are always accepted here.”
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Natalia was SNTL’s first volunteer, and she’s been at the library desk like clockwork for over ten years. In 2012, she had just moved to Baltimore and, like so many others, was looking for community. She met co-founder John Shea by chance at a DIY festival and signed up to help bring a new idea to life.
“I like that it’s a space that didn’t exist– it was just an idea,” she remembers. Initially, she had meetings with co-founders John and Piper in their apartment to develop pitches, write grants, and try to drum up support. Once they found space, Natalia staffed drop-off days to collect donated tools, and she entered the first few hundred into inventory herself.
You can still find Natalia every other Sunday morning behind the library desk. “I love the Sunday shift,” she says. “Other people go to church, I come to the tool library. I just sit and people come visit. I get to ask them what they’re working on and what they need. There’s the sound of open shop in the background and people are bringing projects in and out and excited to tell you what they’re working on.”
Quanshay
Member & BWBB Homeowner
“Being in class is empowering… I learned that I can do most things if I take the time to learn them well.”
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Quanshay was the first participant in the Black Women Build Baltimore homeownership program and now serves on their advisory board. She is also a tool library member who’s taken the entire home care class series (and then some) as part of our partnership with BWBB.
During her classes, Quanshay learned more about how to maintain her home over the coming years, and she’s already used some skills from the electrical class to install dimmer switches to save power.
“Being part of the tool library means being part of the larger sharing economy that pushes back against the norm of excessive consumption and toward a renewed sense of the importance of working together with others,” she shared.
Stephanie + Karl
Owners, Chachi’s
“It’s not just about the tools. The more connections we have with each other and throughout our community, the stronger that community is.”
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Stephanie and Karl opened the doors to their restaurant, Chachi’s, in 2022– but for months before that, they were working hard to build it out. Using tools borrowed from the library and help from friends, they transformed an empty shell into a cozy, welcoming space and a busy kitchen.
“When we got into this blank space, it was totally overwhelming,” Stephanie remembers. “We knew the tool library was going to be part of our process because we had a micro budget. Some people are fortunate enough to get funding to hire a contracting company who build it for you. We had ourselves, our friends, pulling from the community wellspring.”
That community is a big part of why they became tool library members in the first place. “One of the coolest parts of the library is having volunteers and teachers that are neighbors as well,” Stephanie reflects. “I know people who work for city government, work at a museum, are artists, work at a restaurant, etcetera, but also can teach a course in knitting or knife making or painting. Getting to see the many sides of your neighbors is really cool.”
You can see Karl and Stephanie’s handiwork for yourself, and enjoy their cooking. Chachi’s is just off the courtyard shared with Fadensonnen on 23rd Street between Maryland and Charles.
Lauren
Teacher & Volunteer
“SNTL provides a whole range of opportunities for people - some simply want to save money on tools, some want to learn new things, and for some it's even a challenge in self-exploration. There's something on the spectrum for everyone.”
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Lauren found the tool library back in 2014, after taking a woodworking course at the community college and wanting to find somewhere closer to keep learning. She took one of the first-ever shop safety courses, loved it, and started coming to open shop. Soon, the staff recognized her growing skills and asked her to become one of the first volunteer shop monitors and then one of the first shop safety teachers.
Since then, she’s taught more than a thousand students woodworking, and even designed the wooden tripod lamp that has been built by hundreds in that class. She especially enjoys teaching shop safety, most people’s first time in a woodshop. “I love when people use the miter saw for the first time. Even if they’re scared, after the first time they use it you can see a fire in their eyes”
Because Lauren was a beginner when she joined, she is especially careful with first-timers. “I know how scary it can be to walk in or join a place where you feel like you don’t have the skills that you need. I would encourage people to, if they feel a spark of interest or curiosity, follow that. Don’t hesitate to come in.”
“Build, Borrow, Repair: Writing with the Station North Tool Library”
These stories were written by Johns Hopkins University undergraduate students in the spring of 2024
