In the spirit of reducing waste and teaching the community new skills, the Blue Hill Public Library hosts a first-Saturday-of-the-month “Fixit Clinic.” On Saturday, February 1st from 2:00 to 3:30 PM, local experts will coach people in the community to disassemble and troubleshoot a variety of items, such as appliances, bicycles, jewelry, clothing, toys, electronics and, well, whatever.
At last month’s Fixit Clinic, two more sewing machines were looked over and brought back into working condition, and an automated playing card shuffler had wires re-soldered to live another day and shuffle another deck. One young attendee was particularly pleased when a favorite toy was restored to life and could once again play a little tune for her! Participants and coaches worked together to fix these and other items.
Participants are expected to actively participate in the disassembly, troubleshooting, and repair of their items so that they can leave fully empowered to share new-found skills and insights with friends, neighbors, and the community at large. Repair is not assured: while coaches will do their best to help, any specific item can have issues that make it unrepairable or efforts can exacerbate the problem during attempts to repair it.
Participants are asked to register via the library’s web calendar at www.bhpl.net so that the library can try to have the right experts on hand. The clinic works on a drop-in basis—so participants can arrive anytime between 2:00 and 3:30 PM. Anyone interested in participating as a coach may contact the library at 374-5515 or email hannah.cyrus@bhpl.net.
