At first glance, the National City Public Library is everything you’d expect: rows of bookshelves, bulletin boards, tables full of people quietly reading or working at library computers.
But if you head up the stairs to the second floor, past a water fountain and through a door labelled “Staff Only,” you’ll find something a little more surprising: a room full of power tools, ranging from car jacks and pole saws to bike repair kits and sewing machines.
These tools are part of the library’s new hardware-lending program, U-Tool-Ize, which is the first of its kind in San Diego County and is open to all county residents.
Since its launch last year, the program has added more than 100 library patrons and checked out hundreds of hardware items. Those tools have gone to helping first-time homebuyers fix up their aging houses. They’ve helped other patrons change their tires, install sprinkler systems and sew folklorico dresses.
At the encouragement of neighbors, National City residents Johnny and Allison Calderon used the library’s electric tiller, wheelbarrow and table saw to start a sprawling vegetable garden behind their home.
“We're learning that libraries can be a great resource in many different ways,” Allison Calderon said. “We’re really lucky to have this.
Alex Neu, the systems librarian who started the program, said he and his colleagues are always looking for ways to better meet the needs of the places and people they serve.
“Libraries are always adapting,” Neu said. “This is one way of us showing to the community that we're here for them.”
Tool-lending programs are a relatively rare feature at public libraries. These programs offer a free, public alternative to costly purchases or rentals from a hardware store. In 2021, one study found just 50 of them at libraries nationwide.
At least two other public library systems, in Escondido and Oceanside, are working on their own tool programs. Both told KPBS that they hope to start offering them at some point next year.
The Solano Center, an environmental nonprofit in Encinitas, also offers a more limited selection of hand tools.
At the National City library, all you need to check out tools is a library card — which anyone with a San Diego County address can sign up for. You also need to be at least 18 years old, have a government ID card and sign a couple safety waivers.
In the beginning, the program was only open for in-person checkout on Mondays and Wednesdays from 4pm to 6pm. But they’ve started using an online checkout system, which patrons can use to reserve tools in advance, enabling them to pick them up anytime during library hours.
Each tool’s checkout page also includes a video showing patrons how to use it.
Neu first learned about tool libraries around a decade ago while working at a college library in Portland, Ore. He needed a lawnmower but didn’t have the money to buy one. His neighbor said he could find one at the library, just a couple miles down the road.
“It was just an ‘aha’ moment,” Neu said. “Like, ‘this is a new treasure that I just stumbled upon.’”
Neu began dreaming about starting his own program. He joined the National City Public Library in 2018, and soon felt he’d found the right place because of the city’s low income levels and the number of aging, single-family houses.
National City’s median household income is around $41,000, less than half the countywide median income. Historically racist planning and zoning have also led to high levels of industrial pollution in the majority Latino city.
Neu applied for a $30,000 state environmental grant to fund the program. He used the money to purchase more than 200 power tools, focusing on electric hardware, gardening supplies and equipment for drivers and cyclists.
Neu admits that he should do a better job of spreading the word about the program but nevertheless considers the first year a success. After tallying up the numbers, he found they had checked out over 600 tools during that time.
“I think when we wrote the grant, I was shooting for 200 checkouts, so I was pleasantly surprised,” he said.
Some of the tool library’s most loyal patrons agree wholeheartedly. Among them is Matt Sikorski, who moved to National City from San Diego after purchasing his first home there in 2023.
In the beginning, Sikorski struggled to make the necessary repairs with the tools that he had. But the library’s tools, including the tiller and the PVC pipe cutter, have enabled him to clean up his lawn and set up a new sprinkler system.
“This really helped me kind of transition into being a homeowner,” Sikorski said. “I found it at the exact right time.”
By Sikorski’s estimates, the tool program has already saved him hundreds of dollars. He has tried to spread the word about it through neighbors and by making posts on social media.
The tool program has also inspired donations of unused hardware.
On a warm afternoon earlier this month, Spring Valley resident Martin Angell, 74, pulled up outside the library, the trunk of his white Volkswagon packed with electric sanders and other power tools.
A former sales coordinator at Bosch, the German tool manufacturer, Angell had acquired a collection of power tools from when the company closed a warehouse in San Francisco. He had called the National City library after seeing a news story about a similar program elsewhere.
“I mean, I can spend all day trying to sell something like that on eBay,” Angell said. “I’m happy they’re going to be put to use.”
You can see one place where the library’s tools have been put to use on the east National City corner lot where the Calderon’s live.
On a recent afternoon, vegetable beds crowded around the southwest corner of their house, blooming with tomatoes, pumpkins, arugula and stalks of corn. The bright smell of a small lemon tree filled the air.
Along with the garden, the Calderon’s said the library’s tools have also helped them build a new life.
Like Sikorski, the newly married couple are recent arrivals to National City. They moved from Oakland two years ago, leaving behind most of their friends and family. Johnny Calderon said the garden has become a way for them to share food with neighbors and form new bonds.
“I think it’s obviously a great way to build friendships,” Johnny said. “We’re just really making it a home.”
You can sign up for u-Tool-ize or register for a library card for free on the National City Public Library's website.
