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#CraftChange Partners: The Ottawa Tool Library

The Ottawa Tool Library empowers community members by offering them the resources needed to advance themselves in their daily lives.

Through sharing everything from power drills to garden tools, the Ottawa Tool Library (OTL) allows all members of the community the chance to tackle creative and practical projects on their own, regardless of their economic situation and workspace.

The OTL helps out the broader community as well. It it protects our environment by reducing individual consumer waste and teaches our city the fundamentals of sharing, something we all learn as children but seem to forget as we age.

The OTL also plays hosts to countless DIY workshops, teaches classes for all skill levels, and is home to an open maker space, where local makers, artists, and hobbyists all work alongside and share everything from ideas to, of course, tools.

These important activities, powered by super volunteers like Bettina Volmerhausen, align perfectly with the core values of Maker House. Thus, when it came time for Maker House Co. to choose its first #CraftChange partner, the local tool library was a natural fit.

Our relationship with OTL goes back to beginning, with Maker House Co. owner Gareth Davies having attended the first planning meeting of the association and being a member since the start.

Volunteering with OTL’s initial crowd-funding campaign, as well as its bids for grant applications, Gareth saw first hand the positive impact of donations. He now hopes to make his own contribution through the #CraftChange initiative.

Over the first three months of Maker House Co.'s existence in 2015, we donated two per cent of sales to the OTL. Now we are doing it again for early 2018. These funds help to grow an already amazing tool library and continue to foster more community projects.

As friends since the beginning, Maker House Co. hopes to keep our partnership with the OTL alive and well. We recommend everyone to check out the association if you haven’t already.