Belfast Tool Library

Belfast Tool Library Like a library but for tools!

Over 1,500 tools to borrow, onsite workshop for members & DIY woodwork classes: a community built on shared knowledge & collective resources

🌳🌲 Attention, avid whittlers & everyone curious about carving 🌲🌳Only a few places left for our next Make-Your-Own Class:...
22/05/2026

🌳🌲 Attention, avid whittlers & everyone curious about carving 🌲🌳

Only a few places left for our next Make-Your-Own Class:
GREEN WOODWORK - BUTTER KNIFE

Book here: https://koalendar.com/e/btl--class

This exquisite course in green woodwork is back by popular demand. You'll learn to split a branch and how to carve and whittle green living wood to make a unique butter knife with your bare hands. Local greenwood artisan Craig will teach you the types of wood to use, show how to prepare the blank wood and guide you in shaping your utensil using an axe and knives. From branch to utensil you will create your own butter knife - an evening of learning the therapeutic art of green woodwork.

Date: Wednesday 27 May (6-9pm)
Cost: £45/40 (discount for BTL members: use code MEMBER)

--
Places are limited due to the hands-on, individual guidance given, as with all our classes

All classes happen in the BTL Community Workshop (entrance at the back of Shankill Mission Building).

Here's how to find us & get in touch if you have questions: https://www.belfasttoollibrary.com/contact

14/05/2026

This one's worth dancing about: Belfast Tool Library is so thrilled to have the support of AIB as one of their 2025 Community 1 Million Fund charity fund recipients. Thanks to their generous support, we've been working away in the background to run free woodwork courses for communities in our city - who may otherwise never get the chance to access practical skills like these - and to add new tools to our library...

We are now the proud tool parents of two [2!] brand-new Rug Doctor carpet cleaners, for instance. Our board member Cathy snagged one first and showed us what it was capable of. Book your turn and boogie your way into the library to borrow one. (Warning: You will not believe how manky your carpet is. It's that powerful.)

Find out more about AIB's community fund, see who they support (we were so grateful to be alongside utter heroes like RNLI) and make a nomination for this year's charities: https://aibni.co.uk/community

Our next Make-Your-Own Class is on the horizon:GREEN WOODWORK - BUTTER KNIFEIt’s been awhile and this exquisite course i...
14/05/2026

Our next Make-Your-Own Class is on the horizon:
GREEN WOODWORK - BUTTER KNIFE

It’s been awhile and this exquisite course in green woodwork is back by popular demand. You'll learn to split a branch and how to carve and whittle green living wood to make a unique butter knife with your bare hands. Local greenwood artisan Craig will teach you the types of wood to use, show how to prepare the blank wood and guide you in shaping your utensil using an axe and knives. From branch to utensil you will create your own butter knife - an evening of learning the therapeutic art of green woodwork.

Date: Wednesday 27 May (6-9pm)
Cost: £45/40 (discount for BTL members: use code MEMBER)
Book here: https://koalendar.com/e/btl--class

--
Places are limited due to the hands-on, individual guidance given, as with all our classes

All classes happen in the BTL Community Workshop (entrance at the back of Shankill Mission Building).

Here's how to find us & get in touch if you have questions: https://www.belfasttoollibrary.com/contact

14/05/2026

Brilliant to have the Footprints Women's Centre's group from Windsor in with us, putting creative & practical sustainability into action

The whole Belfast Tool Library story began when a group of people gave their time because they were passionate about mak...
22/04/2026

The whole Belfast Tool Library story began when a group of people gave their time because they were passionate about making tools — and the confidence to use them — available to everyone. Beyond our two part-time staff and trustees, all of our work still happens primarily due to the time and talents of a diverse and growing band of generous, brilliant volunteers (seen here at a repair night last winter).

Want to join us? If you care about building community and conserving resources — whether you’re a seasoned DIY pro or a total tool beginner — there is a place for you among our amazing team of volunteers.

If you're curious about becoming a Tool Librarian, supporting the Community Workshop, helping out at Big Ol' Repair Nights (in partnership with Tools For Solidarity) or joining the comms team, the first stop is a general intro session. The next intro sessions are 23 April (tomorrow!) and 21 May: both are Thursday evenings (6-7:30pm in the library).

Sign up for an intro here...
https://signup.com/go/eunvWwU
..and fill in our expression of interest form to let us know more about you
https://www.belfasttoollibrary.com/volunteer

We can't wait to meet you (and feed you pizza from time to time...)
😁🍕

Taking a brief pause this weekend so our staff & volunteers can be with family & friends this holiday. Be well and see y...
01/04/2026

Taking a brief pause this weekend so our staff & volunteers can be with family & friends this holiday. Be well and see you again soon:

Tuesday 7 April in the Tool Library
Thursday 9 April in the Community Workshop

We trust you're all putting your considerable DIY energy & know-how into fabulous egg decorations & elaborate hunts in the meantime...

Our MEMBERS SURVEY is open for your insights till 30 March! Fill it in here & now: https://forms.gle/K5aWLbTa2DwTxWsx6Th...
27/03/2026

Our MEMBERS SURVEY is open for your insights till 30 March!
Fill it in here & now: https://forms.gle/K5aWLbTa2DwTxWsx6

The survey is quick to fill in but it's impact can help shape BTL for years. This shared enterprise is all about you: Everything that exists & happens at BTL has arisen from your involvement, needs & ideas; everything is created by, with & for our members. Your views will help direct our limited resources in the most impactful ways we can.

Thanks for your help in steering our course, letting us know what's working brilliantly & sharing suggestions about... the other stuff. Your input makes all the difference

(Clearly these are not the actual survey questions... though we're kind of regretting not asking for zodiac info. Drop your sun sign in the comments & we'll make a deeply uneducated guess about what aligns our collective stars toward tool library membership :)

WOMEN REPAIRING IT FOR THEMSELVES (AGAIN)Thursday 19 March 10am - 1pm FREE (supported by Belfast City Council)Join the w...
13/03/2026

WOMEN REPAIRING IT FOR THEMSELVES (AGAIN)
Thursday 19 March
10am - 1pm
FREE (supported by Belfast City Council)

Join the waiting list & sign up to hear when the next is happening:
https://forms.gle/w3FFBiuj8VUpDpLk9

Our first go at combining with was a resounding YES - so much yes that we didn't have time to shout about this second go before it was fully booked! But please hop on the waiting list & let us know you're into it so we can let you know as soon as the next is in the books

This class is a packed 3-hour session led by our workshop coordinator Jane McMahon, covering the facts and giving you practice on core DIY skills for your home or business: lock repair & replacement, basic electrics, simple furniture repairs & filling holes in walls. It's a chance to come to the BTL Community Workshop & learn to make repairs with other women - all seemingly tiny household things, but the kind that make all the difference when you can sort them yourself.

We're so grateful to NIRN - Northern Ireland Resources Network for underwriting the first one, and to Belfast City Council for extending their Repair Week support for this second session. The laws of physics and time mean that spaces are limited of course, so here's how to be in the room next time:

✅ Join the waiting list so we can let you know when the next one is happening: https://forms.gle/wfd2L8dQuJCFuoEE9

✅ Show the love - and get the incredible benefits of our tool library and workshop - by joining the brilliant BTL community: https://www.belfasttoollibrary.com/how-it-works

✅ Spread the word to folks you know are looking for these tools and skills: sharing knowledge and resources is the future

Address

Shankill Mission Building, 116 Shankill Road
Belfast
BT132BD

Opening Hours

10am - 1pm

Telephone

+447311923327

Website

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