Hello, Russell:
We have a library which is apparently working well. ... I think that if we had a library which had an assortment of RAM, some video cards, a few IDE and SATA hard drives, and a good quantity of each of the sizes of screw that is used in a PC case then it would provide real value for members while not being a huge effort for someone to bring to the meeting (a small bag that could be carried in one hand - even on public transport).
Hmm, I suspect it would require some curation effort in order to hit the point where the items are of negligible value yet still useful. You want negligible value both for acquisition and for giving out - nobody's going to be comfortable taking an apparently-valuable item out of a library. No problem for a mounting screw that's worth a fraction of a cent, but for RAM or a hard disk, people are going to feel uncomfortable. For those things, you'd probably want more of a swap-meet arrangement... As far as the practical side is concerned, one option would be the workshop, which has chairs, tables and the option of working four hours straight; at that point, the library would be more a selection of screwdrivers and spanners, with a jar of mixed screws as one of the items. However, that's rather different to your suggestion.
Any volunteers?
That's the key bit, I guess... is there a volunteer? Jiri -- Jiri Baum <jiri@baum.com.au> http://www.baum.com.au/sabik