Tag Repair Cafe

Community members repair clothing on sewing machines at the Miller Branch of HCLS.

Fix it at the Repair Café

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A volunteer fixer teaches community members about tool repair.

By Erica C.

Saturday, November 8 | 1 – 4 pm 
HCLS Miller Branch  

Does your shirt have a hole? Is your lamp broken? Does something on your bike need to be repaired? Instead of throwing away your broken items, bring them to a Repair Café at the library to be fixed!  

Repair Cafés are free events that are all about repairing broken household items. Our community of fixers with repair skills in all kinds of fields volunteer to bring broken items back to life and will demonstrate how it is done. Be a part of a worldwide movement to preserve repair skills and promote sustainability!  

We live in a world of consumption, leading to an incredible amount of waste collectively. By learning invaluable repair skills, we can shift from a community that is wasteful to a community that is sustainable. Things can be used for longer and won’t have to be sent to the landfill. This leads to less raw material usage and energy consumption than is required to manufacture new products. And overall, less junk! 

Reduce waste, save money, build new skills, and help us foster community and a sense of shared learning.

The most common items the Repair Café can repair are lamps, vacuums, clocks, kitchen appliances (blender / toaster / stand mixer / etc.), and small clothing mends. Other categories of repairs include furniture, jewelry, power tools, small electric appliances, toys, and tool sharpening.  

Community members repair clothing on sewing machines at the Miller Branch of HCLS.

Do you have repair skills in a particular category and want to volunteer at an upcoming event? You do not have to be an expert! You can be paired with someone who is more experienced. Email transitionhoco@gmail.com to inquire.

To ensure we have the right supplies and volunteers available to fix your item, please submit what you plan to bring to the event here: https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/bfd9ac7d234447138eeb75df4e95a8c8 

Erica C. is in her dream role as the Enchanted Garden Instructor at HCLS Miller Branch. When she’s not tending to the garden, you can find her cycling along the C & O Canal, experimenting with new recipes from around the world, or curled up with tea and a good read.

DIY Center at Elkridge branch with a container full of racks ant other yard care implements.

Springtime at the DIY Center

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Elkridge DIY Center: stacks of ladders and a wheel barrow stacked against a white wall, with a blue tile floor.
DIY Elkridge Branch

by Alex P.

Beautiful spring weather and fair temperatures are here, making this the perfect time to tackle the outdoor work that it’s been too cold to attempt.

As you ready your garden for vegetable crops, or get your lawn in shape, you may have to clear some debris. You can get it done with a variety of rakes that the HCLS Elkridge Branch’s DIY Collection has for different lawn areas and applications, or perhaps with one of our leaf blowers. We also have tree limb saws, pruners, and pole saws to help prune errant limbs on the variety of trees you may have around your lawn, so you can keep your area safe and keep your trees healthy.

One necessary but demanding task you may wish to tackle is clearing your gutters. The DIY Collection has a variety of ladders that can help you get the job done. We have various step ladders, such as the multi-position ladder, that are suitable for single story homes, and 20- or 24-foot extension ladders for two-story homes. From there, you can access your gutters with ease, so clear, flush, and adjust away! Check our catalog or come to Elkridge Branch for a list of our ladders and the average vertical reach you can expect while using them.

Car maintenance is also easier to do now that it’s warmer. Make sure you have enough engine oil and check your tire treads to see if they’re worn. If you need an oil change or are replacing a tire, the DIY Collection has an automotive jack and stands kit so you can lift your car safely for easy access. While your car is up, you can check your brake pads to see if they need replacing too. You can use our socket set, breaker bar, and torque wrench to get tires on and off your vehicle.

DIY is your place to tackle spring cleaning, planting veggies in your garden, and so much more. Borrow the tools mentioned above and stay tuned for exciting new additions to our collection soon.

Community Plant Swap
Sat, May 10 | 2 – 3:30 pm
HCLS Central Branch
For adults.
Calling all plant lovers and the plant-curious! Join us for the second HCLS live plant swap. Have an abundance of healthy seedlings, cuttings, bare-root or potted plants? Bring them to the Take-a-Plant area so they can find a new home. Bring a box or other container(s) to gather and take home new plant friends.

A woman wearing a blue shirt walks toward the camera, with a toaster under one arm and a broken lamp in the other.

Repair Cafe at the Library
Sat, Jun 14 | 1 – 4 pm
HCLS Elkridge Branch
Instead of throwing away broken items, bring them to a Repair Cafe where volunteers will do their best to give them a new life. If you are interested in how things work, or have a favorite item that needs repair, join us to see what’s possible. Clothing, jewelry, small electrical appliances, toys, furniture. (No smart phones or computers, or gas powered devices.) Volunteers evaluate and fix as many items as they can and offer their expertise for things too large or not possible to bring in.

Alex Pyryt is a DIY Instructor & Research Specialist at HCLS Elkridge Branch.