How a loan works
From "anyone have a ladder?" to "it's back on the shelf."
Street Shelf does one job: it keeps the checkout card for things neighbors lend each other. Here is a loan from start to finish.
Step 1
Someone opens the shelf
One neighbor opens a shelf for the street or block and becomes its keeper. They get their own private link and a 10-character shelf code to hand out.
Step 2
Neighbors join with the code
From a flyer at the door, a group chat or a chat over the fence: they type the code, give a first name (and, if they like, a house label such as "green awning"), and get their own private link. No email, no password.
Step 3
Everyone lists what they would lend
Name the thing, pick a shelf (tools, ladders, yard, snow, party...), add a note like "blade is new, bring it back clean". Mark it away whenever you need it yourself.
Step 4
A neighbor asks
They pick the day they need it and for how many days, with a short note. The ask waits on the owner's page.
Step 5
The owner lends it, with a due date
Or declines; no reason needed. Once lent, each of them sees the other's "how to reach me" line to arrange the handoff, and the shelf shows the thing as out, with the due date.
Step 6
Due day passes? It says so.
After the due date the thing wears an overdue stamp on the shelf. The owner can set a new due date in one step if that suits them both.
Step 7
Back home, back on the shelf
The owner marks it returned. Only the owner can: it is their ladder.