There are many potential ways to acquire gear for your gear library.  Most gear libraries start small and grow over time, allowing you to tailor the items in your library to what folks in your community seem to need the most.

• Asking for community donations: Many experienced bikepackers may have tried out several systems before they find their favorite, and now have old lightly used gear laying around that they no longer need. Running a donation drive for gear within your local community is a good way to obtain gear for your library. Developing a list of criteria for the donation drive is helpful to ensure you’re getting items that will be utilized and not just take up space, or that need lengthy repairs. The criteria list can include condition, such as no items that are meant to be waterproof that are no longer waterproof and no major rips/holes to ensure you don’t need to do lengthy repairs, ensure items are in safe condition to be lent out, as well as specific things you’re looking for. Having a running wishlist with links to specific new items for folks to purchase is also a good thing to direct people to that ask how they can support your group.
• Asking for brand donations or discounts: If you have a relationship with an existing bikepacking or camping gear brand, you could reach out and explain how you are trying to support your community through a gear library. They may be open to providing some in-kind gear donations or discounts to purchase gear for a gear library.
• Look for grant programs: There may be local funding opportunities that could support the creation and maintenance of a gear library. Many grants may be limited to only registered 501c3 non-profit organizations.
• Buy gear yourself: If you have the means to do so, of course purchasing gear to stock your gear library is always an option. There may be various avenues to get discounts on gear for this purpose.
• Apply to be a part of Bikepacking Roots’ Community Stewards program or for our BIPOC Bike Adventure Grant: We are working on systems to connect our Regional Stewards to gear and support their creation and maintenance of gear libraries, leveraging the connections that we already have many bikepacking brands.

It is important to have a way to track of what gear, helping you keep organized internally and allowing you to share what gear you have to potential users. This could be as simple as an informal spreadsheet that shows who in the community has gear to lend or a more sophisticated library software. Most gear libraries start with a spreadsheet and adapt as their gear library gets more use.

You’ll want to think about what information is important to share out about each item with potential borrowers, such as the size or compatibility requirements, or if you want to just include a link to a product page.

Here are a few examples of options to use for cataloging and tracking gear:

• Excel or Google Spreadsheet
  • Pros: Free, simple to get started, easy to share with people wanting to borrow gear
  • Cons: Harder to track gear loans
  • Examples: Google Sheets / Slow Spokes, Google Sheets / Vermont Bikepackers
• Digital tools such as Library Cat, MyTurn, or GearLog
  • Pros: Easier to track gear loan requests and borrows
  • Cons: Typically have a cost, requires more specialized skills and time to set up
  • Examples: Library Cat / RAR Atlanta, MyTurn / Wild Wolf

You will also want to think about how you are promoting your library so people can access your inventory. Some ways to do this include:

• A dedicated website page with information on the gear library
• A link to your gear library info from social media such as Instagram or Facebook
• Sharing it out within your specific community channels such as slack or discord or at in person events
• Partnering with other companies or organizations such as bike shops or organizations focused on getting people outdoors, other groups leading bikepacking trips, or even an actual library like the Harrisonburg, VA Communtiy Gear Library

It is helpful to have clear written policies for how you are lending or renting out gear. Clear is kind! Being upfront about how everything works makes borrowers understand what their responsibility is, and ensures that your gear library is run in a way that is reflective of your goals.

Here are some things that you might want to lay out in a formal policy:

• Eligibility: Who is eligible to use your gear library? As mentioned earlier on this page, is your gear library open to everyone, to a specific demographic group, or only to local riders? Is gear only allowed to be borrowed for trips your group is hosting, or can folks borrow gear anytime? When determining you eligibility, think about the overall goals for your gear library, the overall capacity of your volunteer team and resources, and then how to best meet those goals with your given capacity and resources. It’s also possible to change and expand over time as you get set up.
• Prioritization: If multiple people request to borrow the same gear at the same time, how do you pick? Is it first come first served, or prioritizing first time bikepackers, BIPOC, or gender expansive riders?
• Fees: Are you charging any rental fees? Sometimes a low-cost or sliding scale fee for rental gear can be good to incorporate to help support the management of a gear library and the maintenance of the gear, and we often find that most folks are more than happy to make a small donation to be able to borrow quality gear. You can decide on what works best for you and what you think might be best for your community. If you decide to charge fees, you’ll need to determine how they will they be decided. Is it a per item cost, per day, etc. Sometimes a late fee encourages users to return gear on time.
• Collateral: What info are you gathering from people who rent gear? Do you require an ID, which some folks may be hesitant to share, or require some vetting process like that they’ve been to an event you’ve hosted or are connected to someone in your group?
• Rental period: How long can gear be rented? Do you have any limitations for how long gear can be rented for or how many times a person can utilize the gear library? These decisions could impact equitable use among all potential users.
• Reservation and checkout process: How do people request  to borrow gear, and when and where are they able to pick it up? Many smaller gear libraries, especially ones that are out of someone’s house just coordinate one-on-one via email or phone to arrange time for pickups and returns. If you’re able to partner with a bikeshop or other business that has regular store hours and staff that are able to support checkouts and returns, that may make it more accessible. Some gear libraries have set hours each week, to make it easier on volunteers and more consistent and clear for borrowers to understand how to use. We’ve also seen gear libraries that use lockers, so folks are able to pick up their gear without needing a volunteer there, similar to an Amazon locker. If the gear is stored at someone’s house or other private property, it’s important to think about how you share out the address.
• Borrower support: In addition to just lending gear, are volunteers/managers of your gear library open to helping potential users decide what gear options are best for them based on their planned trip, what bike they have, etc.? If so, is this managed via email, when they’re picking up the gear, at a workshop ahead of time, or another process? We find that most folks that are borrowing gear from gear libraries are new to bikepacking (hoorah!), and will need help figuring out what items they need, what works on their bike, and how to pack everything. We’ve found it helpful to get a photo of their bike ahead of time so you can get a sense of if what you have will work for them. We also find it helpful to encourage them to bring their bike and any existing camping gear or bags they have when they come to pick up gear, so you can test everything out. Providing this one on one support and guidance takes time, and we often need about an hour to get someone set up with bags and gear.
• Damages and repairs: What happens if the gear gets damaged or broken when I’m using it? If you have any consumables (like a spare tube with a loaner bikes), who replaces them if they need to be used? What condition do users need to bring back gear in? If things get dirty, be clear about directions to wash them, since users may be new to things like how to wash a waterproof tent or down sleeping bag.
• User agreements: It’s helpful to make sure all of this information is clearly shared with folks borrowing gear, so that understand what their responsibility is. This could be a in the form of a list of agreements someone has to read through when they submit a form to borrow gear, or a checklist a volunteer goes over with them when they pick up the gear.

Here are a few options for where to set up a gear library:

• If you are just starting out and have space where you live, you may be able to store the gear library equipment yourself. If you are building a gear library as part of a group, perhaps one of the members has space to store it, or you can set up a system to divide up storage responsibilities.
• Renting a space. Several more formalized and long-standing gear libraries utilize a rented space to store gear. This provides a secure location and makes it easy to meet with potential users, but likely will be an ongoing cost for the rental space.
• Partner with a bike shop or other bikepacking-related business to store the gear. Several community gear libraries have partnered with their local bike shops to provide a space and help with aspects of managing a gear library, such as having regular hours and helping folks understand what will work on their bike. Other community gear libraries have partnered with an outdoor non-profit, climbing gym, or public library — think about what resources and spaces are already in your community.

It can be expected that gear in your library will experience wear and tear over time. It is important to plan for this as part of your gear library management.

• Safety considerations: It’s important to keep an eye out for any safety related issues on your gear. This includes things like straps that may tear or become loose, brake issues on bikes, etc. It can be helpful to have a two phased approach to checking on the safety of gear, both 1) reviewing the condition of all items at time of checkout/return and 2) a regular maintenance schedule such as doing a review of all bags on a quarterly basis.
• Strategies to repair or replace gear
  • DIY repairs: Connect with your community to see if you already have the skills needed to do basic repairs within your community.
  • Warranties: Many of the gear manufacturers warranty their gear and may provide repairs or replacements.
  • Replacement: Account for items that are most likely to need to be replaced at shorter intervals, such as items like straps that are more likely to be lost and consumables like tires and chains on bikes.