littlefreehackrack

As you probably know I launched Gallery 69 – a Free Little Art Gallery back in 2023. You might also know that in the last few years I’ve tried to get around my community by walking or riding my bike and sometimes you find a hidden gem down some side street that you just never noticed before… and that’s how I found this Little Free Craft Closet.

Located on Lefeber Avenue between Clarke Street and Wright Street in Wauwatosa is this charming little “closet” where someone decided to put some extra crafting supplies they could bear to part with. As you know, crafters are notorious for saving even the smallest bits of things, especially fabric! So to find a kind soul willing to part with some… it warms the heart!

Anyway, while this Little Free Craft Closet probably won’t be listed on freelittleartgalleries.art it always good to see variety in the “free little” movement to help build community. (Correction: It’s now listed there!)

I am reminded of my 2016 idea for a Little Free Hack Rack which would be perfect outside a makerspace or really anywhere! Someone could still make this idea a reality.

If you have the means and an idea for sharing something of value with your community, I urge you to do it. We need it now more than ever.

LFL
Photo by Todd Bol

One of the projects I started and haven’t made much progress on yet is the Little Free Hack Rack. The concept smashes together the idea of a Little Free Library and a Hack Rack into something that’s just crazy enough to work.

We even set up a web site at ~~littlefreehackrack.org~~ for this thing… Oh, and what is this thing?

Little Free Hack Rack
Illustration by Kathy

Just like a Little Free Library the Little Free Hack Rack should be a weatherproof enclosure with a door, but it would contain miscellaneous items that could be useful to makers and hackers. You could stock it with some resistors, LEDs, capacitors, or other components. You might put your old cell phone in it, knowing someone might grab it just for the screen or the keypad. We might be able to keep old tech out of the landfill by promoting the recycling and reuse of materials.

I’d love to some day offer plans to create your own Little Free Hack Rack with cut files for laser cutters and CNC machines. In an ideal world someone at a makerspace could download the files and build their own Little Free Hack Rack and have it out near the curb in a very short time frame.

Let me know if you build a Little Free Hack Rack for your front yard!