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The purpose of the
Neighborhood Trust Network is to
increase trust between friends and the sense of
community within neighborhoods, by enabling people to
share all sorts of possessions with each other in an effortless
and dependable manner.
The network is slightly ill-named. It is not a specific
group of people, who regularly communicate with each other. It
is, rather, a reproducible set of
sign-out forms and a
reasonable set of
rules which make
the sharing process easy and trustworthy. These forms are
freely available on this website for you to download, print and use.
The agreements which form the essence of the NTN are simple,
logical and powerful.
These agreements, once accepted by both sharing parties,
tend to protect the integrity of lent
items and encourage their timely return.
Even though the NTN is "only" this set of agreements, these agreements have the power
to form a foundation of private, interpersonal trust
(called "social
capital") parallel to that of public trust which has constituted our extremely successful public library system.
Started by Benjamin Franklin with a set
of rules which form the model for the NTN, the American public
library system has been globally replicated for the last 200
years and has benefited the lives of billions of people.
It is now time that we recognize that many types of
possessions, not just books, might as well be shared rather than
purchased--for many, just like books, are used only once or
twice in a person's lifetime, and/or simply do not need
to clutter up our houses and lives.
Sharing within the Neighborhood
Trust Network does not mean that you throw your possessions to
the wind. Rather than being a anonymous internet web of
"digital" people, or an authoritarian organization which forces you to share your
things with shady or irresponsible characters whom you do not
really know or trust, the Neighborhood
Trust Network enables you to construct--effortlessly and
easily-- your own network of resources from among your own friends and
neighbors.
Once you find useful the agreements and pocket-sized forms which
have been evolved by the NTN, your own network will grow quite
spontaneously and organically. As your base of material,
recreational and educational resources grows, so also will your
social
capital be enlivened, enabling you to be a much more
powerful and joyful part of your own community.
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