When I Started Using a Library of Things, My Purchases Halved — A Minimalist's Guide to Community Sharing

Why 'Borrowing' Feels Lighter Than 'Owning'

A power drill, a bread maker, a set of camping gear, a takoyaki grill. Most homes are quietly filled with items used only a few times a year but occupying storage space all year round. If you honestly list how often each tool is used, it's common to discover that 'less than once a month' items fill most of your closets.

Behavioral economist Richard Thaler described the 'endowment effect': once we own something, we value it higher than its objective worth. Tools we paid heavy shipping for, kitchen gadgets we grabbed on impulse — they become especially hard to let go precisely because we already own them. As a result, unused items pile up, and living space quietly shrinks.

A 'Library of Things' is one clear answer to this dilemma. It extends the model of a public book library to tools, appliances, and outdoor gear. These libraries are growing worldwide and are gradually taking root in Japan too, through municipal loan programs, NPOs, and community-run sharing spaces.

When you build your life around borrowing, 'low usage = don't own' becomes the default. Not owning something isn't about giving up abundance. You keep access to the option when you need it, and you free yourself from the cost of storing, maintaining, and eventually disposing of it — a natural next step for minimalists.

Five Common Categories You Can Borrow

What a Library of Things offers varies by region, but most collections cluster into five categories.

First, tools and DIY gear. Drills, impact drivers, circular saws, ladders, paint rollers. Essential for small repairs, yet often sitting idle for months. Items costing tens of thousands of yen can be borrowed for a few hundred yen — financially very appealing.

Second, kitchen appliances. Bread makers, takoyaki grills, yogurt makers, waffle irons, food processors. Event-style cooking tools are hard to store and used less often than imagined. Borrowing also creates a 'try before you buy' filter that stops impulse purchases.

Third, outdoor and sports gear. Tents, sleeping bags, cooler boxes, suitcases, skis, hand carts. Items used once or twice a year for trips or seasonal leisure are much more rational to borrow. Your storage opens up dramatically.

Fourth, baby and elder care items. Baby beds, car seats, strollers, wheelchairs, walkers. Things used only for a limited life stage lower the total cost of child-rearing and caregiving when borrowed instead of owned.

Fifth, event and hobby items. Projectors, screens, microphones, karaoke sets, telescopes, tripods. Gear for annual gatherings or short-term hobbies is easy to rotate among neighbors on both sides of the transaction.

A Three-Step Move Toward a 'Borrowing Life'

Don't try to switch everything to borrowing overnight. Move gradually in three steps for a smoother transition.

Step 1: take inventory. Pull out all your tools, appliances, and outdoor items and roughly write down how many times you used each in the past year. Items used '0 to 2 times per year' go into the 'candidates for borrowing' pool. You'll be surprised how many items fall into it.

Step 2: research local lenders. Search your city's website for 'rental,' 'loan,' or 'sharing.' You may find tool libraries, accessibility equipment lending, and other unexpected services. Libraries of Things run by NPOs or community spaces can be discovered through social media and local forums. Once you find them, post the available items, fees, and reservation methods somewhere visible at home.

Step 3: borrow before you buy. When you want a new item, add a 30-second pause to ask, 'Can I borrow this first?' If after borrowing you truly need it daily, then buy. You'll cut failed purchases dramatically. From a minimalist angle, the items you're satisfied with after borrowing are the ones you should happily keep not owning.

I recently needed a power drill to assemble some furniture. A year ago I would have bought one without hesitation. But I tried my local tool lending service for the first time and borrowed one for two days for a few hundred yen — and honestly thought, 'This was all I needed.' The quiet sense of knowing there wasn't an unused drill sitting in my storage afterward was surprisingly satisfying.

Three Etiquette Rules to Keep Borrowing Sustainable

A borrowing life rests on trust with the people who lend. Three etiquette rules keep your relationship with a Library of Things healthy for the long term.

First, return on time. A small thing that shapes the next borrower's plans. When you reserve an item, immediately enter the return date into your phone calendar and set a reminder for the day before. With this small habit, late returns disappear.

Second, give it a quick cleanup. Wipe dust off a tool, gently clean the inside of an appliance, fully dry outdoor gear. If you return items a little cleaner than you got them, the lender and the next borrower feel respected. Trust is built on these tiny repetitions.

Third, be honest if you broke or stained something. Items used by many people sometimes break. Telling the lender truthfully lets most Libraries of Things respond cooperatively. Staying silent damages the trust in the whole community from a single incident.

A helpful continuation tip: set a fixed 'borrowing day' once a month. Block, say, every third Saturday as 'borrowing day' in advance, and the repairs or seasonal projects you've been postponing actually move forward. A Library of Things doesn't become part of your lifestyle unless you actively schedule it in the first few months.

Three Kinds of Abundance a Borrowing Life Brings

Once borrowing becomes natural, an abundance beyond simply 'fewer things' appears in daily life.

First, the abundance of space. Letting go of tools and appliances used only a few times a year opens up surprising pockets of space in closets, cupboards, and entryway storage. As space expands, airflow changes, cleaning becomes easier, and the whole feel of your home gets lighter.

Second, lower barriers to trying. 'Too expensive to buy, but intriguing' is exactly the zone where borrowing expands your life. DIY shelving, homemade bread, stargazing, camping. Courage to buy may not come easily, but courage to borrow usually does. Borrowing becomes a safe doorway into new experiences.

Third, loose connections with your community. Someone always runs a Library of Things, and someone always uses it. Brief greetings during each exchange, occasional recommendations from the staff, gradual recognition of faces. A relationship that isn't intense but is warm quietly becomes part of your living infrastructure.

The New Freedom of 'Letting Go, Yet Able to Use'

As you become fluent with a Library of Things, the old equation 'owning equals abundance' quietly unravels. True abundance is having access when you need it — not necessarily ownership. This shift in perception deepens minimalism at a philosophical level.

Of course, items you use daily, or things you want as lifelong companions, deserve to be owned with confidence. The real problem is handing over today's space and attention to the uncertain future of 'I might use this someday.' A Library of Things offers an alternative answer to that uncertain future.

Borrowing isn't a rejection of ownership. By consciously dividing what you own from what you borrow, you concentrate space and heart on what truly matters — that's the essence of a Library of Things for a minimalist.

Next time you're torn between buying and not buying, first remember to ask, 'Can I borrow this?' From that small question, the air in your home grows a little lighter and your options quietly expand. Reducing what you own is, paradoxically, expanding what you can do. A Library of Things is the quiet infrastructure that makes those two compatible.