Inspired by similar sustainable tool libraries in Germany and Canada, founders Emma Shaw, Rebecca Trevalyan and Sophia Wyatt, as well as a group of friends and neighbours, began testing the Library of Things in a dusty side room of a public library in West Norwood, South London.

Using a round of crowdfunding, they purchased and transformed two shipping containers and tested 400 items with over a thousand local people.

“We received hundreds of requests from around the world from people wanting to start sharing libraries. People travelled from places like Scotland, Taiwan and New Zealand to see our work. The concept started replicating in neighbourhoods around the UK and abroad.

“But we also learnt that running a sharing library was much harder than it looked. We were basically reinventing retail. We wanted Library of Things to be better and more affordable than buying items from Amazon or Argos.”

What sort of funding and support would you recommend for similar projects?

“At least £10,000 in set-up funds (this can be accessed via council sustainability and climate teams, via crowdfunding, and via grants like National Lottery Community Fund’s Awards for All) and a team of local people willing to put in some time and energy to get it started.

“[You’ll also need] An accessible, secure, rent-free space – like a high street library, community hub or shopping centre.”

What are your plans for the future of Library of Things?

“We’re now licensing this platform to local governments, housing providers and community organisations – helping them start and grow their own sharing libraries.

“As part of this, we’re looking for partners and sponsors to help us start a Sharing Library Seed Fund & Incubator – to help neighbourhoods that don’t yet have a sharing library to get one started.”