Reader’s Digest Australia & New Zealand – May 2019

READER’S DIGEST

May• 2019 | 29

publicuseofshared
resources.
Whilenotthefirstof
itskindintheworld,the
BrisbaneToolLibraryis
thefirstinAustraliato
behousedinsidea pub-
licspace– attheState
LibraryofQueensland.
ForSabrina,thelibrary
wastheidealfit.“When
I approachedthemwith
theidea,theylovedit,”shesays.“More
thanjustborrowing,thetoollibrary
hasevolvedintoahubforsharing
skillsandkeepingthelocalcommu-
nitystrongandthriving.”
Sabrina’splanforactionishaving
aneffectatgroundlevel,too.While
itfirstattractedpeoplelookingtodo
thingscheaply,itwasn’tlongbefore
thesustainabilitymessagetrickled
down.“Oncetheycouldseethebig-
ger picture of what the tool library was

tryingtoachieve,mem-

berscouldseetheirown

impactontheenviron-

mentandinthecom-

munity,”sheexplains.

“Itreallyhasbrought

peopletogetherinun-

expectedways.”

Assuch,it’snotjust

anenvironmentalpro-

jectbuta socialenter-

priseaswell.Sabrina’s

nextstepistocreateanincomeforher

manyvolunteers.Thepopularityof

thetoollibrarymeansshe’sina spe-

cialpositiontocreatemeaningfuljobs

insocietyandinturnhelpothercom-

munities todo the same. She’s

inspiredpeopleinotherareaswhoare

interestedinstartinglibraries in their

owncommunity.

MRROBOTATYOURSERVICE

A caféinBudapest,Hungary,is usingrobotstoserve

customers.Robotwaitersdeliverfoodanddrinkorderswhile

othersprovideentertainment,holda conversationordance

withcustomers.OpenedbyanITcompany,theaimofthe

caféis tohelpfamiliarisethepublicwiththetechnological

revolutioninautomationandartificialintelligence.

Despitefearsthatincreasingautomationwilltake

employmentawayfromhumans,theownerssaythecafé

actuallyemploystwiceasmanypeopleasbefore,asit needs

a team of IT specialiststooperate the 20 robots.

REUTERS

Thelibraryhas

evolvedintoa

hubforsharing

skillsand

keepingthelocal

community

strong

Gotowww.brisbanetoollibrary.org

orfacebook.com/brisbanetoollibrary

for more information.