Drills, vacuum cleaners, diving fins, hair dryers, sewing machines, extenders, crutches, wheelchairs... Although it may seem like it, it is not the list of a department store product catalog. Nothing could be further from the truth. These items are part of the catalog offered by a library. Yes, a library. But not just any one, but the Biblioteca de les Coses, in the Sant Martí district of Barcelona, which opened its doors in 2020 – a few days before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic – and which leaves almost everything except books .
It was two entities, Nusos and Rezero, that promoted this initiative, which was already present in some Anglo-Saxon countries and not in Spain. "We thought it could be a very tangible way to change consumption habits with a clear environmental impact", Eli Miralles, Nusos project coordinator, explains to La Vanguardia.
But how does it work? Well, like a library in use, but without books. The user – who does not have to pay any fee to be one – can borrow any of the items in the catalog and use it for a week. The price of the service varies between 1 and 5 euros depending on the product.
Almost 500 items make up the library's catalog - 90% comes from donations and 10% is acquired by the project. Among those that are most in demand, Miralles explains, is a portable music system with a large speaker, built-in microphone, and bluetooth connection. "Wheelchairs and sewing machines are also very popular."
According to Rezero Laia Tresserra's technique, the library aims to break with the association that is made "between a need and putting our hand in our pocket to satisfy it". "It is not necessary to have objects, but to have access to them". This change in habits, he argues, involves a whole series of benefits, including environmental ones, one of the reasons why the promoters launched the initiative: "Every time we avoid a purchase, we are saving the CO2 emissions that would be associated with an object. Our estimates are that in 2022 we saved the equivalent of 2,681 kg of CO2 emissions and 932 kilos of waste”.
The library, located in the casal of Ca l’Isidret, opens its doors two afternoons a week (Tuesday and Thursday from 4 pm to 8 pm). The premises are given by the Taula Eix Pere IV who, together with a group of residents, joined the initiative promoted by Nusos and Rezero. The Waste Agency of Catalonia and Barcelona City Council also contribute by providing financial support.
Maria, its only employee, receives the help of volunteers to attend to the users, almost 400 at the moment. Anastasi, 64 years old and a resident of the district, has been helping "from day one". "I do all kinds of things: from going to look for an object they give us to setting up shelves, cleaning the products, putting them in order or being in contact with the users".
Jaume (63 years old) is one of them. He has used the service on three occasions. In all of them he obtained carpentry articles: what if a stripper, to remove paint from doors, for example; that if a chainsaw... He values the experience as "very good". "Borrowing these tools helped me to know if I would be able to use them correctly," he says. "If I see that it is not, then I call a professional to do the job, and I will have only invested three or four euros to have tried."
Half of the users of the service are residents of the district, almost the other half are from the city and 6% come from outside. "If you give the opportunity, people are encouraged to change their habits", concludes Tresserra.
