Eight people were present today, we talked about how to protect the owners of any items which are lent to the Library, particularly those which are expensive to buy. A number of suggestions came up:
We will probably collect money through either subscriptions or pay-per-loan fees. This can then be put into a pot and used to repair/replace any damaged items, either via an external insurance company or directly by the Library. There are problems with this approach – a member may purposefully add an item in poor condition, then when it fails, ask for a new replacement. This is less a problem with simple items, for more complicated (and probably more expensive) items, the poor condition may be hard to spot. In this case, we may insist all new items which are added to the Library are examined by a number of other Library members before being accepted or covered by replacement/repair insurance. We could also restrict the items which can be loaned at first, until the Library has enough money to pay for any damage or replacement to the more expensive items. This may discourage too many people at first, as the more expensive items are likely to be more in demand.

Another item brought up was whether or not we should use police and courts to deal with any perceived malicious damage/theft of items?

TODO: think about the above items, come up with suggestions and ideas to solve them. Check tool hire companies, to see how much they charge, how they deal with insurance, how much it costs, etc.