As the year comes to a close, ALoT is winding down for our end of year break. Our last open day will be Tuesday 23rd December, we will be open two hours earlier, from 3.30 – 7.30pm. We will be reopening on Tuesday 6th January 5.30 -7.30pm. If you borrow items on our final day, you can keep these until we reopen on Jan 6th. Reservations will re-commence from Thursday 8th January 5.30 – 7.30pm.

As we are in our busy borrowing season, please ensure you are only borrowing items for as long as you need them. You can shorten your loan period when you are selecting dates for your reservation.

We will be reviewing our tool loan fees in the new year. Our membership fees help us pay the rent, and cover some of our expenses, but they are not enough to cover the maintenance and replacement of our high use, high maintenance items. We want to ensure our tools are in good condition and ready to go, and when one of our tools stops working (and can’t be fixed), we want to make sure there’s enough money set aside to replace it.

Seeking New Location

After five great years in our current space, unfortunately, our lease is coming to an end and our building is now being prepared for sale.

As many of you may know, we share our premises with ​Hackland.​ It’s been a fantastic partnership, and we’d love to continue our renting together. While we had hoped to stay longer, we’re choosing to view this as an opportunity: a chance to find a space that helps us grow, run more workshops, and support even more Aucklanders to build, create, repair, and share in sustainable ways.

We are asking for help from anyone with potential leads – property managers, landlords, community organisations, businesses, or individuals who may know of a suitable building becoming available.

If you can assist, please contact Amanda at amanda@aucklandlibraryoftools.com.

​Click here​ for more information and how you can help.

Events

We had our final ​Repair & Share​ this weekend, these will be re-commencing monthly, starting on March 7th.

Our final event for the year will our ​Mending Circle​ on Friday 12th December 5.30 – 7.30pm. Our events are open to everyone, koha is greatly appreciated to keep these running and well stocked.

Not a current ALoT Member?

You can check out our current membership options ​here​.

Want to Gift a Membership?

Did you know you can gift a tool library membership? If you’ve forgotten to get a gift for Fathers Day, a membership to ALoT is the perfect last minute gift! You can purchase them ​online here.​

We have a couple of our tote bags left too, these are the final ones, in yellow, so get in quick!

After five great years in our current space, Auckland Library of Tools (ALoT) and Hackland are preparing for a move – and we’re asking our community for help to find a new home.

As many of you may know, we share our premises with Hackland. It’s been a fantastic partnership, and we’d love to continue renting together. Unfortunately, our building is now being prepared for sale, and our 5 year lease is coming to an end. While we had hoped to stay longer, we’re choosing to view this as an opportunity: a chance to find a space that helps us grow, run more workshops, and support even more Aucklanders to build, create, repair, and share in sustainable ways.

What ALoT & Hackland Need to Find

We are looking for a centrally located premises in areas such as Kingsland, Grey Lynn, Ponsonby, Western Springs, and Mt Eden, that offers:

• 250–400 sqm of floor space

• Industrial zoning & 3-phase power

• Street-front access and a dedicated workshop area

• Car parking and proximity to public transport

• Affordable annual lease, ideally under $60,000

• Long-term stability (a minimum 5-year lease)

A Call to the Community

We are asking for help from anyone with potential leads – property managers, landlords, community organisations, businesses, or individuals who may know of a suitable building coming available.

If you can assist, please contact Amanda at amanda@aucklandlibraryoftools.com.

Want to help in another way?

We know that community minded people instinctually want to help. If you feel the need to reach out, we will gratefully accept your time as a volunteer, or a financial donation to help us cover our upcoming moving costs.

Looking Ahead

While this transition has come sooner than hoped, we are optimistic. A new, fit-for-purpose location will allow both ALoT and Hackland to continue our partnership, expand our offerings, and serve our community in even more meaningful ways.

Kia ora,

It’s officially Spring and we know everyone is itching to get back outside and into their gardens and DIY projects! If you’ve noticed you haven’t heard much from us this year, it’s because our team has been busy behind the scenes. We’re excited to finally share some big updates with you.

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Great news for sharing!

Environmental sustainability has always been at the heart of the tool library’s kaupapa. By sharing tools and other consumer items, members are able to reduce the environmental impact of a whole suite of activities. Sharing and reusing items helps our members avoid waste by operating at the top of the waste hierarchy. This work has been recognised by the Waste Wise team at Auckland Council, who have agreed to support the library’s work over the next 3 years! This funding will help the library hire our first ever dedicated Library Manager, improve our services, and build capacity with our amazing team of volunteers.