Exmouth Library of Things is having its grand opening on July 31 at 10.30am.
The Library will be officially opened by Exmouth Mayor Steve Gazzard with support from the Town Crier. The project is a spin off from local community environmental group ‘Transition Exmouth’.
The Library of Things was awarded £3,440 in December 2020 by the Transition Network Bounce forwards fund, which in turn was funded by the National Lottery community fund to help community projects start up again or bounce forwards after enduring the covid pandemic.
This community-led project is the result of over a year’s worth of hard work and is the brain child of local woman Bianca Davies, who is the driving force behind the project.
“Community projects like this only work because of the dedication and hard work of so many people, I have been thrilled by the support given to make this project come to fruition,” said Bianca.
“I am so grateful to all the volunteers that have stepped forwards to help with getting all the behind the scenes work completed, as well as the support of organisations such as Transition Exmouth and the Methodist Church, who have been invaluable in providing us with financial and practical support. Without them and our amazing volunteers we would not be here now.”
Whilst the pandemic might have thrown a considerable spanner in the works for many community projects, the team from Exmouth Library of Things were able to quickly switch to online zoom meetings and altered the timetable of work to suit the fluctuating levels of lockdown.
Early in 2021, volunteers were recruited and the hunt for a suitable premises began. After a conversation with Reverend Wayne Grewcock, Exmouth Methodist Church became involved and very kindly donated the use of a garage they had on site at their Church at Littlemead.
In addition to supporting the Library with some a premises, they were able to offer financial support and members stepped forwards to help form the board.
Wayne Grewcock said: "The Methodist church is committed to sustainable initiatives and keen to work alongside community groups like the Library of Things. We organise the Repair Cafe and are keen to work towards environmentally friendly practices that bring people together.”
The idea of the Library of Things is to promote a ‘sharing economy’ in the town and provide a facility where people can reserve and borrow a range of household items for DIY or leisure activities for short term use.
This could include some extra garden chairs for a family party or a long ladder to do some DIY, and it could also include things that they may want to try out before deciding whether to purchase for themselves, such as tents and other items of camping equipment.
Catherine Causley from the project said: “We all have things in our garage that we use very occasionally or maybe that we bought specifically for a project but are now just taking up space. The idea behind a Library of Things is that instead of us all having a drill, you could borrow one very cheaply and then return it when you are finished using it.”
There is a one-off annual fee to become a member of the Library of Things of £30 and this allows you to hire the majority of the items within the library for free.
The website will be updated in line with the opening day to enable people to register (and pay online if they do wish). Members can then present the required supporting documentation in person and sign up on the day. Library of Things welcome you to attend the open day to find out more about all of this and they encourage anyone interested to come down on the day.
The open day starts at 10.30am at Exmouth Methodist Church (Littlemead).