Welcome to Share Bedford
– a library of things
Helping our community thrive • one thing at a time
We are open every Wednesday 12pm-2pm and Saturday 10am-12pm. Our home is on the 2nd floor of Bedford Central Library. We welcome visitors, even if you just want to come in for a chat and find out more about us.
Who are we – we are a small group of people in Bedford who wanted to make a difference to the local community by reducing waste, and reducing the need to buy new stuff! Read more about us here
What is a library of things – well, it’s a library but instead of books we loan out things! Ladders, cat boxes, carpet cleaners, hedge trimmers, tables – we’ve got something you need to borrow so we can save you the cost of buying it new. Browse our Library here
Did you know….
- The first UK library of things was set up in London in 2014 inspired by the Toronto tool library
- There are now almost 100 libraries of things in the UK
- Items can range from DIY tools, household appliances, camping gear, garden equipment, and kitchen items
- The most popular items to loan out are carpet cleaners, drills and jet washers
- Local libraries of things ensure the full use of an item (rather than it just being used a few times over many years)
- By loaning out donated items libraries can reduce waste and carbon emissions
- Our current consumer habits impact on the planet is unsustainable – we need to find alternative solutions
- The average productive time of a drill in its entire lifetime is about 12-13 minutes
- in 2019 SHARE Frome was able to save 199 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, 254 tonnes of raw material use and 22 tonnes of manufacturing waste by sharing, re-using and repairing items!