Library program teaches handyman skills to women

An ongoing library program is teaching local women to be self-sufficient in their homes.

Submitted

Clint Lewis of the Pro Services Department of Lowe's Home Improvement in Elizabethtown instructs women during a recent project.

Handyman Projects for Women has been drawing about 14 participants a month to the Hardin County Public Library in Elizabethtown since it began in June.

Participants have learned through hands-on activities to fix leaky toilets, install tile backsplashes, caulk, repair drywall and perform other home projects.

The free program is aimed at women who haven’t been taught basic repair and improvement skills. Many of those who attend are single women and widows, said circulation manager Charlotte Bragdon, who helps with adult programming.

The classes also have drawn some men who want to learn more about such things, she said.

“They’ve really enjoyed it,” she said.

Bragdon said the idea came up in a brainstorming session with another librarian in charge of adult programming.

Bragdon thought she would like that kind of help, especially because she was a single mother. She thought others would appreciate it, too.

The library has hosted other basic skills classes, such as one about car care.

A call to Lowe’s Home Improvement in Elizabethtown revealed the store offered a program that taught handyman basics.

Lowe’s employee Clint Lewis visits the library at 3 p.m. the third Friday of each month, including today, at the library branch on Jim Owen Drive. He brings supplies and a model to give students practice and teaches them a skill that he keeps secret until the class begins, Bragdon said.

“I guess he likes to keep them guessing,” she said.

Bragdon has learned a lot from the lessons, including how to put a screen in a window.

“Things that I thought were so hard that men get all that credit for aren’t that hard,” she said.

Participants look forward to it, and the class draws as many participants as organizers expected, Bragdon said.

“He’s just really been great for these women,” she said. “They really do like him, and they’ve learned so much.”

Participants are asked to register by calling the library so there will be enough materials, but drop-ins are welcome.

Bragdon said helpful programs make patrons feel more welcome in the library, and that makes a big difference.

“Everyone should come and participate, see what a great opportunity Lowe’s has given us,” she said.

Amber Coulter can be reached at (270) 505-1746 or acoulter@thenewsenterprise.com.