THUNDER BAY - Aspiring gardeners will now have more opportunities to earn that green thumb with the help of a new and unique lending program.
Roots to Harvest, along with the Thunder Bay Public Library, launched the Garden Tool Lending Library Program on Monday, which will make finding the right gardening tool as easy as finding the right book.
“I think it’s important to the whole community to increase capacity to grow food here,” said Alia Wurdemann-Stam, school program coordinator with Roots to Harvest. “Thunder Bay is kind of a remote community, so access to fresh food isn’t always totally accessible. The more people can grow their own food and learn how to do that, the better.”
Wurdemann-Stam said many people may want to grow their own food and have the space for a garden on their property, but lack the proper tools to make it a reality.
“It’s kind of an expensive endeavor to buy tools, particularly the specialized tools we have that would help people increase their garden space like broad forks and we have a sprinkler timer people can borrow if they go away on vacation,” she said.
Two tool lending sheds have been set up, one at the Brodie Street Library and one at the Waverly Street Library. The program is part of the larger Roots to Harvest Initiative, Community Grower Project, which is funded by a $67,100 Ontario Trillium Seed grant. The lending program cost approximately $30,000 and each shed contains more than 80 tools.
While there are other tool lending programs across Canada, this is the first of its kind to be available in a public library.
“I think it’s a perfect partnership because this is already a community hub where people come to borrow resources, so what better way to share resources than the library?” said Wurdemann-Stam.
Ruth Hamlin-Douglas, community hub librarian services supervisor with the Thunder Bay Public Library, said the library already loans so many different things, from books and movies, to walking poles, to hydro meters, so partnering with Roots to Harvest was a perfect fit.
“This is a really great opportunity for us to provide more for families and seniors and everyone to have an opportunity to have a garden,” she said. “Gardening is a big thing in Thunder Bay and we often have the space, but not necessarily the tools we need.”
Hamlin-Douglas said there is already a lot of interest from people in the community who want to take advantage of the tool lending program because tools can be expensive, and may only be used once or twice a season.
“They take up a lot of space and cost a fair amount of money, so it is giving people that ability to use them,” she said.
Taking out a tool will be just like signing out a book and all you need is a library card. However, just like books, late fees of a dollar a day will be enforced and if a tool is lost or broken, the user will be required to pay for its replacement.
“But I think most people who want to garden are the kind of people who do bring things back,” Hamlin-Douglas said.
A complete list of all tools available for lending is available on the Thunder Bay Public Library website.
