Building a Library for the Shed: How One Member Turned Chaos Into a Catalogued Resource
At the Redcliffe Men’s Shed in Queensland, something unexpected is sitting quietly alongside the usual woodworking benches and tool racks—a fully functioning, digitally catalogued library.
This impressive project is the work of shed member Robert Constantine, who has transformed what was once a disorganised collection of books into a comprehensive physical and digital resource for the shed and beyond.
From Mess to Method
When Robert first joined the Redcliffe Men’s Shed, he noticed a small collection of books tucked away but lacking structure or usability.
“There was a library here, but it wasn’t catalogued. There was no system for lending, and no way to search through what we had,” Robert said.
Drawing on his previous experience as a librarian in the Queensland Parliamentary Library, Robert introduced a proper cataloguing system—based on the internationally recognised Library of Congress model—and created a fully searchable library database.
A System That’s More Than Shelves
The result is what Robert now calls the Zetlin Men’s Shed Library System—a two-tiered system consisting of both a local lending library and a publicly accessible digital archive.
The physical books are available exclusively to Redcliffe Shed members, while the digital collection is open to any men’s shed across Australia. Users can browse an extensive range of material through the system’s online portal at moreton.mywebcommunity.org/.
But the real value goes far beyond the bookshelf.
“We’ve got offline databases, eBooks, and access to resources like Trove, PubMed, and the Libby library network,” Robert explained. “That means shed members can access millions of journal articles, magazines, and reference materials—on everything from woodworking to men’s health.”
For example, a quick search in the PubMed database brings up articles on men’s mental health, ageing, and community wellbeing—topics that align strongly with the mission of the Men’s Shed movement.
Open Source, Shed Friendly
What makes the Zetlin system especially valuable is that it was designed with Men’s Sheds in mind.
Built on free and open-source software (using PHP and MySQL, for the tech-minded), it can be set up on a second-hand computer, like the one Robert purchased with a modest $250 grant from the Shed. The system is accessible via any local network, and Robert is offering the software free of charge to any other Shed interested in adopting it.
“You’ll need someone with basic tech skills to set it up,” Robert said. “But I’m sure plenty of sheds have members—or grandkids—who could help.”
A Living Resource for Sheds Across Australia
The Zetlin Men’s Shed Library isn’t just a record of what’s on the shelf in Redcliffe. It’s a living, evolving resource that offers articles, tutorials, health information, and hobbyist content for all sorts of shed interests—model building, upholstery, turning, and more.
It’s also an example of what can happen when members bring their diverse backgrounds into the Shed and put their skills to work.
“I didn’t come here planning to build a library,” Robert said. “But I saw something that needed doing and got stuck in.”
Get Involved
Men’s Sheds interested in browsing or setting up their own version of the system can visit:
🌐 Zetlin Men’s Shed Library System: moreton.mywebcommunity.org/
📧 Contact information is available on the site.
The library project is a reminder that sheds aren’t just about tools—they’re about people, knowledge, and shared purpose. And thanks to Robert’s work, that knowledge is now more accessible than ever.
Robert with his digital library catalogue