Donate Tools
Consider donating new or used tools to the Tool Library!
Donated tools must be:
in good working condition (no broken tools)
movable by a single person
dropped off at the library (no pick-ups)
We only accept donations that have been approved by emailing hello@chicagotoollibrary.org with details about the donation and ideally pictures.
We do not accept donations of paint, stains, or hardware. Please read about the Household Chemicals & Computer Recycling to see if they accept your items. You can also take unwanted paint to an EarthPaint drop-off location.
Here are some items we are particularly interested in accepting
Highest priority items we need are tablets/Ipads for our operations.
Auger
Button-maker
Camping equipment
Canopies
Carpet cleaner
Cider press
Collapsible wagon
Commercial popcorn machine
Compact circular saw
Cordless drill
Cricut (or similar)
Demolition hammer
Dremel
DSLR camera
Electric weed whacker
Embroidery machine
Field recorder
Folding tables and chairs (lightweight and easily portable only)
Generator
Grain mill
Hard surface steam cleaner
Hydraulic jack
Infrared paint stripper
Karaoke machine
Lawn aerator
Large/commercial induction burner
Loading ramp
Oscillating multitool
PA system
Pex pipe tools
Pipe belt polisher
Portable work table
Pottery wheel
Power washer
Ring light
Rotary hammer
Screen-printing setup
Shop vac
Sink strainer wrench
Soil sifter
Tabletop printing press
Tablet/Ipad
Telescope
Thermal camera
Vitamix
Wet tile saw
Wood chipper
We cannot accept every tool and we reserve the right to turn away, redistribute, or sell tools we cannot use, easily service/repair, or have space to store.
WLTRG is a growing coalition of neighbors, nonprofits, and disaster relief agencies working together to address extreme weather events on Chicago’s West Side.
If you have tools or materials for basement flood remediation and renovation you can email us at hello@chicagotoollibrary.org or email West Side LTRG at westsideltrg@gmail.com.
Have hand tools to donate?
The Tool Library no longer has much of a need for basic hand tools so we created a program to collect and redistribute them. We now accept hand tools to create basic tool kits for other housing or job training nonprofits.
Accepted donations for the tool kits include (but are not limited to): hammers, levels, tape measures, wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers, combination squares, empty tool boxes or bags, and utility knives.
You can also donate funds below that will allow us to purchase extra tools or bags to continue this program.