‘Repair Café’ resumes Saturday hosted by the Shelter Island Library

In December 2022, one Shelter Island woman was focused on launching a program she believed would benefit the entire community.

Kyle Karen had brought the concept for a Repair Café to the Board of Education the month before, with the suggestion that with cooperation, she and those who would join her could help replace a throw-away society with a community that could save discarded items and recycle them to those who’d make use of them.

It wasn’t a new concept, but one that came to life in the Netherlands and has taken hold in other communities around the world. No one had picked up on the idea on Shelter Island, a community Ms. Karen believes is a natural place for it to take hold.

According to the Repair Café website: “Repair Cafés are meeting places and they’re all about repairing things (together) … You’ll find tools and materials to help you make any repairs you need. On clothes, furniture, electrical appliances, bicycles, crockery, appliances, toys, et cetera. You’ll also find expert volunteers, with repair skills in all kinds of fields.”

Fast forward and the Island’s Repair Café is alive here, as people with skills have participated in workshops to  restore items — some returned to original owners who had thought them useless, others going to new owners who would be delighted to put them to use.

After a summer hiatus, a small group of regulars who became involved with the Repair Café are poised to resume their efforts. Using space at the library’s temporary quarters, Ms. Karen has scheduled times for upcoming Repair Café activities, all on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon.

The dates are Sept. 21, Oct. 12, Nov. 16, Dec. 28, Jan. 18, Feb. 15, March 15, April 19 and May 17.

“I’m looking forward to a new season,” Ms. Karen said.