How it works

The library is open to anyone over the age of 18 who lives in the Penicuik (EH26) area and it’s easy to join and participate.

Become a Member

Becoming a member makes a difference to the community, it saves you space, and it saves you money. You will be in the company of fellow makers and volunteers that are sharing, learning, building, and creating a better, more sustainable Penicuik.

Its easy – and all you need is an email address, a photo ID, and a Proof of Address.  You can create your account on the library page and pay for your membership online or in person when you borrow your first item.  All memberships will be activated when you pay your membership fee.

If you need help, our Signing up for Membership guide will walk you through the process.

More information about our membership – fees and the required IDs are available on our membership page.  A copy of the Member Agreement and Library Use Policy is also available on this site.

Reserve Items to borrow

Once you have purchase membership, you can reserve items to borrow from the Library.  This means we can have your items ready for pickup, and no-one else will be able to borrow them.  Please see our Borrowing page or Reservation and Borrowing how to guide for more information about reservations.

Alternatively you can pop in to the library during our pick up sessions to borrow items without a reservation if no-one else has previously reserved them.

Borrow Items from the Library

ITEMS BORROWED
Saturdays – 10:00am-11:00am

Making an online reservation is recommended.  It enables you to reserve items and allows for a smoother collection from our friendly volunteers and Pen-y-Coe Press.

ITEMS RETURNED
Tuesdays – 10:00am-1:00pm

Wednesdays – 2:00pm-4:00pm

Please ‘share nice’ and return everything on time, clean and ready for the next borrower.  Although members are not charged for loans, there is a fee for late returns.

ITEMS CHECKED
Thursdays and Fridays

Our volunteers check items to confirm they are ready for the next borrower.

You are welcome to borrow as often as you like.

If you are unable to make the standard days for pickup (Saturday) or returning (Tuesday and Wednesday), please contact us and we will do our best to make alternative arrangements with you.  If you have an item that you become unable to return, please contact us before the due date, or we may need to charge a late fee.

All items borrowed are for four day loans, and will be due back at the Library on the following Wednesday.  If items are not in high demand, we will extend a loan for another week.  Please contact us if you’d like to pre-arrange a longer loan or ask the volunteers when collecting.  We will set the due date to be Wednesday a week later, so the loan is for eleven days.  Please only ask when you really need the items for that extra week.