OPENCIVTECH
The problem
If I were mayor or grand duke of Atri, the first thing I would do would be for my own benefit.
How many times have you bought a tool to use it once? The hammer drill for four holes. The ladder for one evening. The chainsaw for one pruning. And then years of dust in the garage, staring at you.
The idea
It is called a tool library. It works like a library of books, but with drills: you join, you take what you need, you bring it back, someone else uses it.
The reference model is the Belfast Tool Library, running since October 2019. Its rules, as we read them on 1 October 2026 on its website: an annual fee of £30 (pay less if you can't afford it), up to six tools at a time, one week's loan, volunteers at the desk. Late fee: £2 per tool; cleaning fee for a tool returned very dirty: £5.
Atri's rules would be decided by the association running it; here we use Belfast's as a working hypothesis.
It starts with you
The first thing to do costs nothing: an appeal to everyone with dusty tools in the garage, the cellar, the attic. Donate them, to put them in circulation.
A virtuous circle can start from there: tools need fixing, so someone who knows how is needed; spare parts are needed, and have to be bought; then someone else uses them and sends you a blessing; and one day, when you need one, you find it at the library, without buying it again. It is a hope, not a forecast: we have not calculated any "knock-on economy".
Where
The hypothesis is the former carpentry workshop on via dei Cistercensi, next to the covered market. It appears to be municipal property, but we do not yet have the document that confirms it. We do not know its condition, whether it is safe to use, whether it has utilities, whether it is already earmarked for something, or on which floor one could work (a library of heavy tools needs street-level access).
For now it is an idea, not a project. If the Municipality wants to tell us more, we will publish the reply in full.
What it would cost
The calculation covers the library only, assuming the premises are provided free of charge: rent, utilities, works and cleaning of the premises are not included. If that is not the case, the calculation must be redone. These are OpenCivTech estimates, not quotes.
| Cautious | Base | Broad | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tools in stock | 60 | 100 | 150 |
| Of which donated by residents | 70% | 50% | 40% |
| Start-up costs | €1,960 | €4,500 | €7,700 |
| Yearly costs | €1,837 | €2,255 | €2,750 |
| Members needed to cover yearly costs (€30 fee) | 62 | 76 | 92 |
| Members needed if the average fee drops to €25 | 74 | 91 | 110 |
| To be covered in year one (with 60 / 100 / 150 members) | €1,997 | €3,755 | €5,950 |
| From year two, with the same members | −€37 | +€745 | +€1,750 |
In short: in the first year the library cannot support itself and needs donations or grants; from the second year it lives on fees only if it reaches about 62–92 members. The margins are a few hundred euros, and a pricier insurance policy or fewer members is enough to reverse them: in the Base scenario, if insurance costs double, about 109 members are needed; with 50 members instead of 100 the yearly shortfall is about €755.
Where the figures come from
| Figure | Source or nature |
|---|---|
| £30 fee / year, 6 tools, 1 week, late fee £2, cleaning fee £5 | Belfast Tool Library, "How it works" page, read on 1 October 2026. Used in euros as a working hypothesis. |
| Average €70 per purchased tool | OpenCivTech estimate (mix of hand and power tools). Not checked against quotes. |
| Insurance €900 / year | OpenCivTech estimate. We have no quote: we do not know what it would cost. |
| Maintenance and spare parts 10% of tool value / year | OpenCivTech estimate. |
| Electrical checks, lending software €150 / year; consumables €200–400 / year | OpenCivTech estimates. |
| Fit-out (shelves, labels) €500–1,200; setting up the association €200 | OpenCivTech estimates. |
| Unforeseen +10% on yearly costs; expected members 60 / 100 / 150 | Working hypotheses, not forecasts: there is no estimate of how many people in Atri would use it. |
What could go wrong
- Insurance and liability: who is responsible if someone is hurt by a borrowed tool? This must be settled with a broker before opening. We do not know how Belfast handles it: it does not appear on their website.
- Safety: power tools must be checked before being lent; unsafe ones are not lent.
- Volunteers: the library lives on people giving a few hours; Belfast asks for about 3.5 hours a month. This is the biggest risk, more than the numbers.
- The premises: everything depends on where and on what terms; it is the part we know least about today.
What we ask
Tell us whether you would use it. And what you would take out of your garage. Write it on the OpenCivTech Board, the space for registered residents (if you are not yet, sign up here). No commitment, no cost. If there is not enough interest, nothing happens, and we will say so.
This is an OpenCivTech proposal, not the Municipality's or a party's. Anyone mentioned can reply: we publish the reply in full.