Sustainable Libraries Initiative
Repair Networks for Libraries
Friday, November 6, 2026
2:00pm–3:00pm EST
Kami Bruner of Repair x Reuse Washington https://repairreuse.org/
Vita Wells of Culture of Repair https://www.cultureofrepair.org/
Vita Wells -- Notes and Links
Benefits of libraries integrating repair into programing - immediate and long term:
Expand reach to new parts of the community -- people with repair needs, repair volunteers
Contribute to community resiliency in a new way
Complement and expand existing programming, e.g., climate / environmental literacy, teens, youth, tools
Establish new institutional community relationships, e.g., waste authority, municipal (e.g., zero waste, economic development)
Library opportunity:
--> Create lendable resources <--
- Physical: lamp kits. mending kits, tool kits (electronics)
- Instruction: lesson plan, teacher orientation, etc.
The Culture of Repair Project
Global Repair Movement
Movement mission:
Advance turning to repairing broken objects before discarding and replacing -- inclination
Make repair actionable: individual knowledge, policy, parts and tools, local economy, scholarship, engineering
Our strategy —
Make promise of teaching about repair visible
Support implementation in primary and secondary schools and other educational settings.
Audiences: Educators and advocates
Our tactics —
Gather and create resources
Make them visible and freely available
Communicate possibilities
Resources:
Offer on an ongoing basis:
Educator Resource Library
Notes from the Field
Networking
Occasionally offer:
Grants -- not planned before 2028
Collaborations -- local, resource development
Focus on broken physical objects --
Consumerism
Environment
Pocketbook
Personal capacities
From specific hands-on:
Experience models expansion to other things that are broken (e.g., relationships, government, etc.)
Shift relationship with material world
Challenge working with youth:
Age-appropriate activity that's hands-on, meaningful, affordable, time-efficient and doable
Textiles / sewing / mending
Low tech
Low cost
Stuffies, fashion, backpacks, jeans, thrifting
Widely applicable
Computer repair
IT staff
Chromebooks
Notes from the Field
Posts by educators and repair advocates involved in teaching youth about repair.
Educator Resource Library
Filter on:
* Interest: Fashion, e-waste, skills
* Type of resource: Lesson plan, video, Spanish
Examples:
Lamp Repair
Sewing:
Stitching Stuffies -- young, make environmental concepts real
Repair What You Wear -- comprehensive, to standards, environmental focus
Levi's -- basics
Rediscover Center -- teens fashion, for libraries
Booklet -- take-aways
Kits:
Boulder U-Fix-It — Lamp Repair
Algalita — Fundamentals of Repair
Team Repair
Pittsburgh — Stitch by Stitch: Textile Repair Kits for Library