Community gardens and allotment societies
A community garden lets plots, lends tools and runs work days.
Tool libraries and community lending
Every drill and ladder is lent to a member with a due date. You see what is overdue. Members join on a form and support you every month.
The volunteers who run the library work in one Magpie team. Members join on the form, borrow at the counter and support you online.
Get started free
This combination of six Magpie areas fits a tool library or lending scheme.
- Forms
- Forms takes memberships, with a fee if you charge one.
- Contacts
- Contacts keeps each member, with notes and follow-ups.
- Asset Tracker
- Asset Tracker lends each item to a member, with a due date.
- Calendar
- Calendar holds repair cafés and workshops, with RSVPs.
- Newsletter
- Newsletter tells members what is new on the shelves.
- Supporters
- Supporters takes monthly support, with posts for supporters.
People join the library on one form.
Forms builds a membership form with your questions, such as agreeing to the lending rules. A paid form can take a yearly fee by card.
Every new member comes into one list, and you get an email for each one.
Each member is a contact, with notes and follow-ups.
Contacts keeps each member, with tags such as Volunteer and notes such as an ID check. A follow-up becomes a To-do, such as a reminder about a late return.
Search finds a member by name, tag or note at the counter.
Every item is lent with a due date, and overdue loans have their own list.
Asset Tracker keeps each drill, ladder and carpet cleaner, with its tag, condition and photos. Lending one checks it out to a member, with a due date.
Checking it back in records its condition. An item in for repair is marked as in maintenance, so it is not lent.
Repair cafés and workshops take RSVPs, up to the places you have.
Calendar holds each repair café and workshop on your public calendar. People reply Going, and RSVPs stop at the capacity you set.
You see every reply, with the person's email address. A workshop page can show how many are going.
Members hear what is new on the shelves.
Newsletter keeps the members' mailing list, with double opt-in on its sign-up page. A list can be brought in from a CSV file.
You write each issue, send yourself a test and schedule it. Each issue's page counts the copies delivered.
Supporters give every month to keep the library open.
Supporters gives the library a public page, with a free tier and monthly paid tiers. Payments go to your own Stripe account.
Posts can go to everyone or to paying supporters, with photos, a video or a poll.
Five more areas cover the board, the volunteers' rota, the rules, the books and the shelves.
- Message Boards
- Message Boards gives members a board to ask for a tool you do not have yet.
- Staff Scheduling
- Staff Scheduling plans who opens the library each session.
- Documents
- Documents holds the lending rules, shared by link.
- Accounting
- Accounting keeps the books, with membership and supporter payments posted automatically.
- QR Codes
- QR Codes puts a code on each shelf that opens the joining form.
A loan goes from joining to the drill back on the shelf.
Joining
A neighbour joins on the form.
The loan
The drill is checked out to them for a week.
The reminder
A follow-up reminds you the day it is due.
The return
It is checked back in, with its condition.
The repair café
A worn chuck is fixed at the next one.
Setting up takes four steps.
Add what you lend
You can import the list from a CSV file. Help: Import and export assets as CSV.
Build the membership form
You choose its questions and any fee. Help: Build, publish, and share a form.
Connect Stripe
Members and supporters can then pay by card. Help: Connect Stripe to receive money.
Set up the supporters' page
You set the tiers. Help: Set up Supporters.
Plans
A library fits the Team plan, with each volunteer who lends items a member. Members who borrow are not added to the team.
Magpie's fee on supporters' payments is 3%, and on a paid Form 1%. Prices are on the Pricing page.
Other groups that share what they have have pages of their own.
Co-working spaces, makerspaces and studio collectives
A coworking space runs memberships, rooms and the front desk.
Clubs, meetups and community groups
A community group lists events, signs up volunteers and talks on a board.
Questions tool libraries ask
Can we lend a drill to a member for a week?
Yes. The drill is checked out to the member, with a due date. After that date it shows as overdue, in its own list.
Can we see what a member has borrowed?
Yes. Each item shows who has it, and its history lists every loan. Searching the list for a member's name finds what they have, because search matches people.
Can we record damage when something comes back?
Yes. Checking it in records its condition, with notes. A damaged item can be marked as in maintenance until it is repaired.
Can people join online?
Yes. A membership form asks your questions. A paid form can take a yearly fee by card.
Can we import our list of tools?
Yes. Items can be imported from a CSV file, and exported the same way.
Can people RSVP to a repair café?
Yes. Each repair café's page takes Going or Not going, up to the capacity you set.
Can supporters give every month?
Yes. Supporters gives you monthly paid tiers, paid by card through Stripe. Supporters change their card or cancel themselves.
Set up your library in Magpie.
Create a Magpie account and make a team for the library.