La Grande Repair Café returns June 6 at Cook Memorial Library

Broken lamps, toasters, chairs and even sleeping bags will get a free second chance at Cook Memorial Library on Saturday, June 6, when La Grande’s Repair Café returns from 9 a.m. to noon.

The session at 2006 Fourth Street is built around a simple exchange: residents bring in something that no longer works, sit with a volunteer repair helper and learn how to fix it themselves. The library lists lamps, toasters, chairs, jeans with holes in the knees and sleeping bags among the items welcome at the café, giving households a low-cost option when a broken object is still worth keeping.

Lia Spiegel is the organizer listed for the event, and she can be reached at 541-786-7118 or lspiegel@eoni.net. The café is free, which matters for families and seniors who may not want to replace an everyday item if it can be repaired instead.

The event also fits a larger waste-reduction effort. Repair Café organizers describe the work as a way to give well-loved household items a second life, and La Grande’s series has already shown how much can be kept in use. By January 2024, the local Repair Café had reached at least a third event, with attendance rising to 20 people from about a dozen at an earlier gathering. Volunteers have fixed a vintage fan, guitar amplifier, DVD player, rocking chair and clothing items that needed zipper repairs or mending.

Cook Memorial Library gives the café a familiar civic home. The library serves as Union County’s primary public library, and the La Grande Library Commission is required by Oregon law to advocate for the library and its services, review the budget and advise the library director, city manager and city council. That makes the Repair Café more than a one-morning fix-it stop; it is part of the library’s wider role as a place where residents can get help, share skills and solve practical problems together.

The Repair Café model began in Amsterdam in 2009, founded by journalist and sustainability advocate Martine Postma. Repair Café International says there are now more than 2,500 Repair Cafés worldwide, and La Grande’s continuing series shows the idea has found a place in Union County. Organizers are also asking for more volunteers, a sign that the service depends on people willing to repair, explain and keep the network going for future dates, including a later session that was set for Feb. 18, 2025, at the same library.