In the spirit of reducing waste and helping the community learn new skills, the Blue Hill Public Library hosts a monthly “Fixit Clinic” on the first Saturday of the month, with the next one scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 5 from 2:00 to 4:00 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.
Last month’s clinic featured the talents of six great coaches who helped attendees through troubleshooting a portable PA system, getting an alarm clock ticking again, repairing a broken table leg, upgrading a laptop operating system and more! A particularly joyous moment was had when a broken set of window blinds — which the owner thought were irreparable and which even many of the coaches were skeptical of fixing — made a full recovery to usefulness!
Participants are expected to actively disassemble, troubleshoot and repair their items so they can leave empowered to share newfound skills and insights with friends, neighbors and the community. Repair is not assured: While coaches will do their best to help, any item can have issues that make it unrepairable. Also, efforts to repair an item can exacerbate the problem.
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 is on a drop in basis—so participants can arrive anytime between 2:00 and 4:00 PM. Anyone interested in participating as a coach may contact the library at 374-5515 or email hannah.cyrus@bhpl.net.
