Winter Tool Sale Saturday
Come by the VTL on Saturday for a Tool Sale. The co-op will be selling some tools that have been donated in the last year to clear up space in the library.
10-2 on Saturday.
Events Featured
VTL SIDEWALK SALE!!
Come check it out, great deals on tools as always!! Large selection of power and hand tools. Saturday Sept 17, 10AM at the shop!
3448 Commercial St.
VTL Reopening
The Vancouver Tool Library is reopening Saturday May 2 for regular shop hours.
It is with great excitement that we announce our plan to reopen the shop! We took this time to do some spring cleaning and painting, and get things ready to come back better than ever!! After much deliberation and careful discussion, we have come up with a plan that we believe will protect our volunteers and members, while opening our doors and enabling you to get the tools you need to complete various projects during these trying times.
In order to build our library back up, and disinfect our inventory, we will be open for returns only on Tuesday April 28, Wednesday April 29, and Thursday April 30 from 4:00 – 8:00PM. Members are encouraged to bring back any tools you currently have out, and there will be no late or extension fees applied for time out over the shut down.
On Saturday May 2, we will open for regular shop hours and resume operation as usual. There will be some changes to how we run, in the interest of keeping everyone safe:
1. Only one person will be allowed in the shop at a time. We would suggest coming prepared with a list of what you’re looking for, or calling ahead to speed up the process. If you’re uncomfortable entering the shop, the volunteer at the desk will gather the tools and place them at the front door for you.
2. Please line up in front of the shop along the hash marks placed on the ground, and maintain the recommended social distance of 2m or 6″.
3. Payment by credit or debit card preferred, but we will continue accepting cash if necessary as we would like to limit barriers to accessing our tools.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact our manager Laine Hughes at manager@vancouvertoollibrary.com
Stay safe out there!!
COVID-19 UPDATE
COVID-19 Update
Hello VTL members past/present/future!!
We are following the news and reports on the COVID-19 situation, and it’s really heartening to see that all our social distancing measures are having an impact and indeed “flattening the curve” to some extent! It’s really important that we recognize what good these efforts are having, as we all know they certainly haven’t been easy to implement.
The VTL Board of Directors and management are in constant contact, and monitoring the situation carefully. At this point we have decided to remain closed for now, and are uncertain when we will re-open. It is our hope that it won’t be too much longer, but we care about our community and will do everything we can to keep our volunteers and members safe.
Tuesday Work Space hours at the Wood Shop Co-op are postponed indefinitely, and credits will be applied to make up for these dates. All tools will be renewed with zero extension fees or late charges. Please contact our general manager Laine Hughes at manager@vancouvertoollibrary.com if you have any questions or comments.
Keep on social distancing, and together we will get through this!!!
Trans Week of Resilience: Nov 17 – 23
Copied from the Vancouver Trans Week of Resilience Facebook Page:
We organize on the unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples, specifically the xʷməθkwəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and Səl̓ílwətaɁɬ nations in so-called Vancouver, Canada. The Organizing Committee stands in solidarity with Indigenous peoples in their struggle for autonomy and self-determination. We understand that the gender binary is a colonial construct, and affirm the diversity of gender identity and gender expression of people around the world, especially those who are reclaiming identities and roles lost, erased, and vilified due to colonization.
Trans Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-trans hatred and violence. The event is observed internationally, and held every year on November 20th, to honor Rita Hester, whose murder on November 28th, 1998 kicked off the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Rita Hester’s murder — like most anti-trans murder cases — has yet to be solved.
Trans Week of Resilience was created by trans people in the United States to widen the focus of Trans Day of Remembrance and honour and celebrate the living trans community, especially trans people of colour, alongside memorializing those murdered and killed by anti-trans violence.
“For trans people of color to not only survive, but thrive, we need to reimagine our world.” (https://www.tdor.co/about)
Our mission is to gather resources and support for Two Spirit, trans, and gender nonconforming communities to organize and participate in a variety of events and opportunities for ourselves and each other.
We envision the creation of safer spaces to learn, grow, heal, and build individual and community capacity to navigate day-to-day struggles and to resist hatred and violence.
Basis of Unity
- We assert that transmiosgyny and sex worker antagonism are the direct causes of violence faced by trans women and transfeminine people.
- We recognize that the majority of trans women murdered each year are Black women, Indigenous women, and women of colour from the Global South, many of whom are sex workers, and commit to leveraging our privilege, power, and social agency as trans people presiding in Western, Global North countries like so-called Canada.
- We acknowledge that there are many deaths of trans people that are unaccounted for including unreported / under-reported / misreported murders, suicides, as well as institutional violence, and work to highlight these realities.
- We understand that the gender binary is a colonial construct, and affirm the diversity of gender identity and gender expression of people around the world, especially those who are reclaiming identities and roles lost, erased, and vilified due to colonization.
- We work using anti-oppression, intersectionality, and decolonization as our framework to ground ourselves in the complex realities of oppression and violence, and seek to address issues that continue to affect trans communities local to our region, particularly those who are multiply-marginalized.
- We believe that the work is up to us to build community capacity and resilience to meaningfully challenge, resist, and fight the capitalist, imperialist, white supremacist, cisheteropatriarchy, and push for stronger, more meaningful alliances among all marginalized communities.
For more information:
In honour of this amazing event, the Vancouver Tool Library and the Wood Shop Co-op are teaming up to bring Trans, Non-Binary, and 2-Spirit folks a free introductory woodworking workshop. This workshop will be facilitated by trans people, and is for self-identified trans people to attend.
Allies are encouraged to show support by making a donation to this event, 100% of which will go to the Trans Resiliency Fund – an initiative to support urgent and emergency needs of our local trans communities. Donations can be made on this page, or through: https://vancouvertdor.com/donate/
Location: The Wood Shop Co-op, 1245 Glen Drive, East Vancouver.
Date/Time: Saturday Nov. 23 @ 11:00AM – 2:00PM
Facilitators: Craig Orrett and Laine Hughes
Tickets: Available on Eventbrite – https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/trans-week-of-resilience-intro-to-tools-build-a-stash-box-tickets-82290484053
WORKSHOP OVERVIEW
The intention of this workshop is to give participants the knowledge and confidence to use some of the more common tools involved in woodworking, in a trans affirming environment. By the end of the workshop participants will have applied their newfound knowledge and skills towards creating a small wooden box that they will be able to take home with them.
