Important changes to our tool library operations

To current and past members of the Saint John Tool Library,

We have a few important announcements that will affect your membership at our location at 100 Princess Street. The board of the Saint John Tool Library has agreed to move the organization into a fully volunteer-run community organization. This means we will no longer have paid staff to service our members or maintain our historic hours of operation. This will put in line with how many tool libraries in Canada operate. We have been successful in utilising our space for a range of community services, including classes and trades training, which has allowed us to maintain regular business hours. Unfortunately, this has changed recently; however, the board is confident that in the next 4-6 months, we will be able to recruit the volunteers needed to return to more stable hours and offer our traditional borrowing and workshop services. During this time, we would like to draw your attention to a few important changes.

New Hours for borrowers

As of May 07, 2026, our new hours for existing members to borrow or return tools will be reduced to Wednesdays from 4-6pm and Saturday’s 10am-1pm. We don’t anticipate needing to maintain these reduced hours for more than a few months and have set a date of July 07, 2026 as the time to follow up about any additional changes and/or additions. During this next two months we will not be accepting new members to borrow tools from our front location but existing members only. If your membership expires in this time, you will be permitted to renew your membership by paying 150+hst ($172.50) per year. We will be allowing new members as soon as possible. Payment can be arranged with our volunteers during open hours.

Length of time for borrowing tools and late fees

All memberships will now be given a 5-day period of time to borrow their tools as a default. For most borrowers this will be an upgrade, and we will still allow for renewals as long as no one has reserved a tool. Late fee’s will be flexible should there be a notice given that a member will not be able to return the tools during our reduced hours and special drop off’s can be arranged by emailing admin@sjtl.ca. Please note, this does not mean there are no late fees, late fees will continue to accrue unless arrangements are made.

The workshop

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The DIY Centre workshop has always been the jewel of our tool library. Almost no other tool library in Canada has a shop as fully equipped and open as ours and we are proud of that. We will still be allowing new members to join the workshop but have a new membership model. All members of the workshop will be charged $200 a month and been given a key to have access to our workshop under the management of our shop manager Al “Duke” Blois. This will mean all orientations need to be up to date and of course new members will need to do that onboarding. While we don’t have full time staff on site any longer, clear communication will be needed with our shop members and volunteer team about who is coming and going to ensure everyone is safe and supported. Access to the shop WILL NOT be limited to our reduced hours of operation but rather be more focussed on regular business hours with a hard stop at 9pm and opening at 9am.

If you are an existing shop member your monthly add-on for access to the shop will no longer be renewed. Should you wish to access the shop you will need to e-transfer to our director at brent.harris@sjtl.ca $200 for every month until further notice. To access the shop you will need to speak to Duke by emailing dukeblois62@gmail.com or text 506-609-3217.

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‍ ‍We know that so many in our city have come to love the tool library and the stories that have come out of our little grassroots organization continue to inspire. We haven’t actively been recruiting volunteers for many years as the need wasn’t there. Now that has changed and our board is committed to providing a robust approach to recruiting new volunteers to help us transition. We will need new volunteers to help with the reduced hours of operation until July 07, 2026 but will also need them to expand back into more flexible hours of operation for the future. Volunteers are needed for 2 major tasks; staffing the front desk for our members to borrow and return tools, and for fundraising. SJTL hasn’t needed to do a fundraiser for nearly 3 years but this fall we will be back to raising money to ensure our location remains available for our community. If you are interested in volunteering, please email admin@sjtl.ca

Thank you for your patience and ongoing support. If you have questions please email admin@sjtl.ca

Volunteer-driven organisation

One Helpful Membership for Homeowners & Builders

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Homeowners and DIYers need tools, resources and support to maintain and build our homes.

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Josh

I’ve used the Tool Library a handful of times and it’s always been a great experience. Their staff is very knowledgeable, helpful and their tool selection grows all the time. It’s a lot cheaper than buying my own gear but I’m also happy to support such a great group of people. I’ve also hired their Build team to redo our front steps and they did a fantastic job!

- Josh Hansen

Kristen

Before checking it out myself, I heard nothing but great things and it did not disappoint. This is a great place to learn (even if you have next to zero experience – like me) and an excellent resource no matter your project. They are incredibly supportive and doing great things for the community.

- Kristen Chaisson

Cheryl

These guys are amazing and so supportive. I can’t say enough good things about this place. Love the concept, the people and the attitude. Keep it up!

- Cheryl Ramsay

Bryan bought a house.

Meet Bryan, a recent newcomer to Saint John from Vernon, BC who bought a house and moved his family here and has a few things to say about the value of his tool library membership.

Volunteer With Us

Let Us Know

Tool Lending Specialist (TLS)

It’s hard to do a job without the right tool. Our Tool Lending Specialists (TLS) volunteer as much as they can and serve as our frontline team when someone comes in to check out tools. These people know their tools and know how to use them safely and help our members get connected.

Repair Specialists and Repair Cafe Organizers

Every tool has a maintenance schedule, even if it is just cleaning a dirty wrench. We need a team of tinkerers who want to be part of our maintenance team. This team will also be charged with organizing and attending our repair cafés when we host them. Repair cafés are events, open to the whole city, for residents to bring broken items so we can fix them and keep them out of our landfills!

Workshop Teachers

We are always looking for new workshop instructors. These workshops can be centred on anything in the realm of creative hobbies or trades skills development. If you have an idea for a workshop and would like to lead one yourself, let us know!

Community Build Volunteers

Every year we accept applications from people in our city who have a home that they are unable to maintain and need help renovating. These applications are reviewed by our board and we decide on a home for our community build team, which comes and assists the homeowner. We are always looking for volunteers to be part of that team. It is sort of like Home Makeover, Saint John style.