Tools for everyone, skills for life.

The Eastside Tool Collective is working to bring Kirkland its first community tool lending library, where neighbors share tools, learn new skills, and keep good stuff out of landfills.

Get Involved
A group of people gathered around a counters at a store or office, with one person working on a laptop. They are smiling and engaging with each other. There are various supplies, signs, and equipment around them.

The Idea

Why buy a tile saw you'll use once? Or a pressure washer that sits in your garage 364 days a year? The average power drill gets used for just 12 minutes over its entire lifetime.

A tool library works like a regular library — except instead of books, you borrow tools. Need a circular saw for the weekend? A carpet cleaner for spring? A canopy tent for a block party?

Check it out. Use it. Bring it back.

Tool libraries already serve communities across the Puget Sound — including Phinney Ridge, West Seattle, Capitol Hill, Shoreline, and Federal Way just to name a few. Kirkland and the Eastside are the biggest gap on the map.

We're here to fix that. Join us!

A variety of power tools and equipment on shelves in a hardware store, including circular saws, drills, and other hand tools.

How It’ll Work

  • Illustration of a smiling couple signing an annual membership form on a tablet. There are colorful paper tags with prices $5, $25, and $50+, and coins nearby. A speech bubble shows cards or IDs.

    Join

    Sign up for an annual membership. We use a sliding scale so that nobody is turned away because of cost.

  • Illustration of a person walking into a tool library. There is a building labeled 'Tool Library' with an 'Open Hours' sign. Next to the building, a bookshelf holds various hand tools. Above, a hand holds a smartphone displaying different tools and a magnifying glass, symbolizing tool selection or search.

    Browse

    View and reserve items online or simply walk in during open hours to see them in person.

  • A woman with green hair smiling and holding a power drill while talking to a man with a brown beard and short hair, wearing a green shirt. There are tools on the table, and a calendar shows "7 DAYS" above them.

    Borrow

    Check out what you need from one of our helpful and friendly volunteers. Most loans are for one week.

  • A woman and a man are smiling and exchanging tools, with the woman holding a cordless drill and the man holding a basket with a saw and wrench. A boy with short hair is also smiling nearby, with a tape measure and a speech bubble saying 'Thanks!'

    Return

    Bring it back when you’re done. The next neighbor who needs it will thank you.

  • A cartoon boy happily jumping with tools including a saw, hammer, wrench, and tape measure around him.

    Repeat

What We’ll Lend

  • Power Tools

    drills, saws, sanders, routers, nail guns

    Tools and equipment on a wooden workbench, including a cordless drill, a circular saw, an electric sander, an electric caliper, and a cordless impact driver. An extension cord and a power strip are also on the bench.

  • Yard & Garden

    electric mowers, hedge trimmers, pole saws, rototillers, wheelbarrows

    A collection of gardening tools and equipment placed on grass near a tree, including a lawn mower, pruning shears, a chainsaw, a leaf blower, a pair of gloves, a garden hose, and small garden tools like trowels and a cultivator.

  • Home Improvement

    paint sprayers, tile cutters, stud finders, levels, ladders

    A garage wall with exposed framing, electrical outlet, and cord, a blue air compressor connected with a hose to a paint sprayer, a tile cutting tool on the floor, and a stud finder and level attached to the wall.

  • Plumbing & Electrical

    pipe wrenches, drain snakes, multimeters, soldering tools

    A bathroom vanity with a sink, soap dispenser, and tools for plumbing repairs like pliers, a wrench, and a pipe cutter. There is a toolbox with additional tools, a portable multimeter, and a rubber mat, indicating plumbing or maintenance work.

  • Kitchen & Household

    pressure cookers, food dehydrators, carpet cleaners, sewing machines

    Kitchen countertop with a multi-cooker, food dehydrator with sliced vegetables, vacuum cleaner, and a sewing machine with fabric.

  • Specialty

    pressure washers, moving dollies, automotive tools

    Illustration of various home plumbing tools, including a drain snake, a sump pump, a drain auger, a water pressure tester, and a small air compressor, arranged on the floor in a room.
Crowd of people shopping at an outdoor garage sale or flea market with tables filled with various items, in front of a store named Evergreen R.V. with trees in the background.

Why It Matters

Save money.
A membership costs less than a single trip to the hardware store for a tool you'll barely use.

Reduce waste.
Sharing means fewer tools manufactured, shipped, and eventually landfilled. One shared tool replaces dozens sitting idle in garages across Kirkland.

Build community.
Tool libraries are places where neighbors actually meet each other — swapping project tips, volunteering together, and learning new skills side by side.

Support local projects.
When people have access to the right tools, projects get done — fences get fixed, gardens get planted, homes get maintained. That lifts whole neighborhoods!

Let’s Work Together

We're in the early stages of building the Kirkland Tool Library and we need people like you. Whether you want to volunteer, donate tools, offer expertise, or just stay in the loop — sign up using this form and we'll keep you posted as things come together.

Your Questions, Answered

  • The Eastside Tool Collective is a community-led effort supported by a growing team of volunteers. We're establishing an independent nonprofit, with guidance from the South King Tool Library's TooLIP incubator program and Seattle REconomy.

  • We plan to use a sliding scale. Standard annual memberships will likely be around $80, with reduced rates for students, seniors, and anyone on a tight budget. A pay-what-you-can option ensures nobody is excluded. We'll also offer work-trade memberships for regular volunteers.

  • We're targeting the second half of 2026 for a soft launch, starting with limited hours a few days per week. Follow along by signing up above — we'll share milestones as we hit them.

  • The City of Kirkland may contribute startup funding, and we're pursuing grants from King County, the Washington Department of Ecology, and corporate partners. Long-term, the library will be sustained by membership fees, workshops, a reuse store, and community fundraising — not ongoing taxes.

  • Yes! We'll be organizing donation drives as we get closer to opening. In the meantime, hold onto those tools you've been meaning to get rid of — we want them. Sign up above and we'll let you know when we're ready to receive donations.

  • Location TBD. We are committed to finding a location that is well-suited to the needs of a tool library while being accessible to folks all over the city.

  • We'd love to hear from you. Email us at hello@eastside.tools or fill out the signup form and tell us how you'd like to get involved