Equipment lending library

Laptops, networking gear and rack equipment, lent to participants at no cost and shipped both ways at our expense.

Offer equipment Fund a device

Why CCA lends equipment

Learning to run enterprise systems means having enterprise hardware to work on, and that hardware costs more than someone in a low-wage job can reasonably risk on a chance.

The average replacement cost of a device in our library is $1,500. Someone who had to buy a switch, a firewall and a capable laptop before their first lesson might never take it. So CCA owns the equipment, lends it free, and pays for shipping in both directions.

More than 1,000 devices circulate through the library. They go out to participants, come back when they are no longer needed, and go out again to the next person.

What is in the library

The library holds far more than laptops, including equipment that is expensive or complicated to get access to any other way. Examples include:

  • laptops, monitors and peripherals
  • enterprise routers, switches, wireless access points and firewalls
  • servers, storage and rack equipment
  • office phone systems and desk phones
  • point-of-sale terminals of the kind used in stores
  • security cameras and door access control systems
  • fire and burglar alarm panels
  • document and barcode scanners, and document, large-format and 3D printers
  • radios and repeaters
  • audio recording equipment, precision tools, batteries and chargers

The library also lends things that are not physical equipment, such as public internet addresses and, for participants with the right qualifications and approval, datacenter space and internet routing.

Some participants are lent a small network of their own: a switch, a wireless access point and a security appliance, managed through CCA and connected to the rest of our network over an encrypted link. It works the way a branch office network works, and the participant can see each device’s status, its internet connection and its link back to CCA from the participant portal.

How borrowing works

  1. A participant asks for it

    Participants browse the equipment catalog in the participant portal and submit a request. Some items have a limit per person.

  2. We ship it

    CCA staff fill the request and ship it with tracking. The participant gets an email with the tracking link.

  3. It is assigned to them

    The device is recorded against the participant by serial number, so our records show who has it and where it is.

  4. It comes back

    When it is no longer needed, we send a prepaid return label and follow the return until the device arrives. Borrowing and shipping cost the participant nothing.

What borrowers agree to

The equipment is shared, limited and often expensive, so everyone who borrows it agrees to the library’s terms of use.

Borrowers agree to:

  • keep equipment only while they are using it, and return it promptly when they finish
  • take reasonable care of it, and keep it out of unsafe places such as outdoors, near water or in vehicles
  • use it only for its intended purpose, and only if they have any training or authorization it requires
  • not modify it, change its firmware or remove parts without permission
  • report damage, missing parts or loss straight away
  • follow the safety instructions that come with it
  • not let anyone else use equipment checked out in their name, unless that has been explicitly allowed

A participant who does not follow the terms can lose access to the library. Read the lending library terms of use.

If equipment is lost or damaged

Ordinary wear is expected and costs the borrower nothing. If equipment is lost or damaged through a borrower’s carelessness or deliberate misuse, CCA can ask them to pay what it costs to replace or repair it. CCA can generally ask for no more than that, and it cannot make money from these charges. It also has to offer at least one way to pay that carries no card processing fee. Read the limited assessments policy.

How we account for every device

A donated device only helps if it reaches someone and does not go missing on the way. We built our own system to keep track.

  • Every device has a record of what it is, its serial number, who has it and where it is.
  • Shipments in both directions are tracked from the label being printed to delivery.
  • Each return is followed as a case until the device is back with us.
  • Inventory audits use barcode and RFID scanning to check that what is on the shelf matches the records.
  • Changes to records are logged, with who made them and the values before and after.

Those records let us account to an equipment donor for what happened to their equipment, without relying on anyone’s memory.

Common questions

Who can borrow equipment?

Enrolled CCA participants. The library exists so that not owning the right hardware does not stop someone from starting.

Does borrowing cost a participant anything?

No. The equipment is lent free, and CCA pays for shipping in both directions, including the prepaid label for the return. The only exception is equipment lost or damaged through carelessness, which a borrower can be asked to replace at cost.

Do you collect donated equipment?

We can arrange collection or shipping, depending on what you have and where it is. Email us first so we can confirm we can use it.

Will I get a receipt for donated equipment?

Yes. We send an acknowledgment letter that describes what you donated. It does not state a value, because the IRS leaves valuing a noncash gift to the donor.

Put retired equipment back to work

A switch your company no longer needs can teach someone how a network runs. If you have equipment to give, tell us what it is and we will tell you whether we can use it.

Offer equipment Fund a device instead