VOORHEESVILLE — With half of all trash ending up in landfills, the Voorheesville Public Library is doing its part to try to keep some broken electronics and worn-out clothing from winding up in the local dump.

On Saturday, March 14, from 1 to 3:30 p.m., the library will host its first Repair‌ ‌Café‌, a worldwide movement “committed to maintaining repair knowledge in society,” by connecting people with broken items with expert volunteers who can teach them how to fix those damaged goods — giving them a second life and keeping them from being tossed into the trash. 

There are over 2,000 Repair‌ ‌Café‌s across the world; the movement got its start in Amsterdam in 2009. In New York State, there are 32, which includes one very active chapter, Repair Café‌ Hudson Valley, that is working to promote repair events in the Capital Region, said Voorheesville librarian Colleen Ellithorpe.

Voorheesville will not be the first ‌café‌ in the area. 

There are repair programs in Albany and Clifton Park, Ellithorpe said, Schenectady “has a robust program” as well.

With its café‌, Voorheesville is trying to get people to think about sustainability and repair rather than disposal of “basic things we all have around the home that we may not have the equipment or expertise to fix ourselves, but were not ready to throw it out yet,” Ellithorpe said.

On March 14, there will be stations to teach attendees how to repair lamps, jewelry, clothing and textiles, computers, and electrical devices. In addition, there will be blade-sharpening.

“The repair‌ ‌café‌ is not a dropoff service,” Ellithorpe said. Rather, the idea behind it is to be able to sit down with neighbors and community members and learn new skills — skills that fewer and fewer people have and are able to impart, from something as basic as how to sew on a button or something more complicated like rewiring a lamp.

“It’s nothing that the average person can’t do, or can’t learn,” she said. There’s no guarantee that the repairs will take, it’s more about learning how to do it yourself and keeping stuff out of the dump, she said.

“There will be lots of coffee and tea, and snacks; the café‌ component is a big part of the [repair‌ ‌café‌] as well,” Ellithorpe said. “It’s a nice way to make everyone feel comfortable, and make some introductions, [and] learn some new skills — it’s going to be a really fun, family event.”