Meet the Tacoma Tool Library
Our Mission and Vision
The Tacoma Tool Library improves quality of life in the South Sound by providing tools, education, space, and support to cultivate self-sufficiency while reducing waste. Our work will lead to empowered individuals, increased involvement, reduced consumption, more entrepreneurship, better looking neighborhoods, a stronger sharing economy, and a more resilient community.
Tacoma Tool Library promotes environmental sustainability through shared resources, and promotes a sustainable community by maintaining a place for people to learn and engage each other in improvement projects. It encourages individuals who want to participate in waste reduction and care for their homes and neighborhoods, and also creates a community network that promotes sharing and mutual support.
Our Principles
The Tacoma Tool Library has developed the following “Principles of Action” that guide our work. We are committed to:
- Fostering a sense of community and mutual support
- Strengthening community resilience and self reliance
- Supporting inclusivity of participation and accessibility to tools, particularly for people with less economic resources and people who aren’t traditionally encouraged to use tools
- Prioritizing sustainability through waste prevention, reuse, repair, and re-purposing
- Encouraging skill building and empowerment through tool use and maintenance education
- Participating in the Sharing Economy
Tacoma Tool Library Staff
Sharayah Kinney – Executive Director
Marie Horan – Repair Coordinator
Lauren Manes – Program Coordinator and Tool Librarian
Board of Directors
Hayes Alexander III
As someone that usually has several projects in mind (if not in motion), Hayes likes to save money, cut down on excess stuff to store and maintain, and “try before he buys”. Hayes also wishes for everyone to have these opportunities, and so he enthusiastically works to sustain and maintain the Tool Library! Hayes got started with the Tacoma Tool Library in the fall of 2016, when he answered a call for volunteers needed to prepare the tool library to open to the public. Soon after Hayes became a member of the initial governance board and has since remained on the board. Hayes can be found volunteering as a fixer at weekly Fix-it Nights events, as a tool librarian at tool lending open hours, at workshops, and helping with community outreach at public events.
Packy Regan
After a long career in the food industry, Packy retired from the corporate world about five years ago. Since then, he has supported several nonprofits, serving hands-on as an operational volunteer on several Boards. His experiences with nonprofits have been rewarding and being able to directly impact those in need has been a life-changing opportunity. He and his wife Joanne relocated to Tacoma to be closer to family and grandchildren. Being a serial DIYer and always interested in tools he was intrigued when he learned about the Tacoma Tool Library. The opportunity to serve the community by helping to develop self-sufficiency and participating in the sharing economy was exciting. He began serving on the Board in 2023.
Kyla Wilson
Kyla was inspired to become involved in the Tacoma Tool Library after learning about our waste system and alternative solutions to individual consumption. She started volunteering as a tool librarian in March 2022. Now Kyla is a board member, chair of the operations committee, leads tool lending open hours at least once a month and helps with community outreach. Kyla has a BS in Environmental Science and an MS in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Science. She works as a lead planner at Pierce County working on implementing Pierce County’s Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Plan: Sustainability 2030. “I feel very lucky to serve my community and work in a field where I can help create a better, more sustainable future for us all to thrive in.”
Thank you for the support!
The Tacoma Tool Library is a community-supported project that sustains itself through a combination of membership fees, individual donations, and grants for operational support and special projects.
The Tacoma Tool Library has been generously funded by:
