If you are planning to start a Library of Things (LoT), using the existing infrastructure of a local library can help you save time and money. Libraries of Things, which lend predominantly expensive household items to people who otherwise could not afford them or would underuse them, require a robust logistical framework — something libraries have already.

Single mothers often struggle in South Korea, but local “Mother Centers” — based on a German network of cooperatives — are empowering women to take charge of their futures. These centers help mothers of all stripes — not only unwed mothers — help themselves. For all its joys, parenthood also comes with struggles and can leave parents feeling isolated; Mother Centers provide a sense of community.

Creative collaborative housing initiatives are on the rise, allowing people to temper the effects of an unaffordable housing market and surround themselves with like-minded creatives. So-called “maker villages” are springing up in places including the United States, France, and the Netherlands. Housed on the site of a former oxygen plant in West Oakland, California, O2 Artisans Aggregate bills itself as an eco-industrial park that is “home to a network of artisans working collectively to develo

The founder of the Little Free Library movement will be honored this weekend at events in his hometown celebrating the sharing legacy that began with a single box in his mother’s front yard. Todd Bol, who in 2009 created a little wooden library in honor of his mother, has inspired an estimated 75,000 little libraries in all 50 states and 88 other countries.

What if you could check out a bike — in addition to a book — from your local library? That’s become a reality in over 20 communities in the U.S. and Canada. As renewed fears about the future of the environment spark worldwide calls to action and millennials flock to urban centers — eschewing American car culture for public transportation and biking — communities are taking notice. Some, like New York City, are creating more bike lanes to improve access for cyclists. Others are going a step furt

As rent has skyrocketed in large US cities, coliving has become increasingly mainstream and an attractive option for cash-strapped creatives. In Los Angeles, home to aspiring actors and screenwriters, the average one-bedroom apartment goes for $1,370 a month. Rents are double that in New York City, where artists can pretty much forget about living alone. The average one-bedroom apartment rents for $2,980 a month.

Middle school is a trying time for any teen but the pressures faced by African American teen boys are especially complex. A program in New Orleans is matching 12- and 13-year-olds with mentors that help young men belong in a community that aims to divert them from gang membership and build feelings of empowerment and masculinity that are not predicated on violence. It is a partnership between The Silverback Society, a Louisiana-based nonprofit, and Weave: The Social Fabric Project, which is a program of The Aspen Institute and brainchild of author and New York Times op-ed writer David Brooks.

Observers have long complained about what they see as the vapid consumption of social media, especially that of Instagram travel photos, some even accusing young people of being addicted. But one sharing organization has turned the much-maligned “Insta travel snap” on its head and is using young travelers to spread an important message about international development. Sustainability Adventure is a program that sends gap-year travelers around the globe to report on how different non-governmental

Each year, Food Shift collects 120,000 pounds of food that would have otherwise been thrown away. With that bounty, the nonprofit feeds 12,000 people and trains 16 low-income individuals to prepare and cook healthy meals using whatever food is available.

I recently slipped through a sidewalk cellar door to enter the basement of Freebird Books, a large space crammed with books organized into different sections, where I spent the evening reading letters from prison inmates and selecting and packaging books for them. At least twice a week, volunteers go through the 700-800 letters NYC Books Through Bars, a collective based in New York City, New York, receives from inmates every month and fulfill their requests.

Pottery is "such a visible, shareable art form," says Jennifer Waverek, founder and director of BKLYN CLAY, a studio that since 2016 has served as a coworking community for ceramics artists. Tactile, less technological, slower paced — this world couldn't be further from the fast-paced startup world that brought us a host of coworking spaces. Potters cannot succumb to digital distractions — they must sink their hands into terra cotta or other types of clay and sculpt with laser focus. Pottery collectives, many of which are based in Brooklyn, New York, are bringing artists into a vibrant, empowering community. They're allowing burgeoning and established ceramists to share resources — from kilns to ideas — and sculpt their futures together.

Following the recent school shooting in Sana Fe, the gun debate in the US has been whipped up once more. As mass shootings continue to plague the nation with little legislative change, is there likely to ever be a ban on firearms in America?

40% of New York City Inmates cannot afford their bail. Is it time for the US to ditch a system that seems to be rigged against the poor?

Over 60,000 juveniles are incarcerated on any one day in the US. 35% of them will experience solitary confinement at some point, locked down twenty-three hours a day in a windowless cell without human contact. The United Nations calls this torture. Prisons say it’s necessary for the safety of inmates. Should the practice be abolished?