Becoming a new parent comes with lots of surprises - the reality of sleepless nights, the isolation of spending a whole day stuck at home with a baby - but one of the more unwelcome surprises is how quickly your house becomes filled with these garishly coloured, noisy pieces of plastic we call toys. Toys come from well-meaning visitors, hand-me-downs from the cousins, they even come in Happy Meals! A huge amount of energy and organization is needed to stop the toys from taking over every room in the house. After tidying up the toys for the millionth time, parents are desperate for an alternative.
Luckily there is the Gisborne Toy Library to the rescue! As part of a national organization with over 200 toy libraries across Aotearoa, the Gisborne Toy Library has been running since 2001. It’s a registered charity whose mission is to provide a wide-range of high quality toys to local families for a low price. Families pay for a yearly membership and then have unlimited access to borrowing toys from the Toy Library. Each toy has a small fortnightly fee, but it’s still a very affordable option compared to buying toys at a big red store or online. Functioning a lot like the book library, a family borrows a toy for two weeks, plays with it, then brings it back and chooses something new. This model is perfect for toddlers who have the attention span of a flea and the constant desire to explore and try new things. Kids’ interests and abilities are always changing so borrowing toys is a perfect solution.
For families who are looking for a more environmental approach to play, the Gisborne Toy Library is a great choice. Rather than every family buying the same slide and then letting it sit in the back garden and watching it slowly disintegrate in the sun and rain, the Toy Library gives kids a chance to borrow it, go hard and slide down it a thousand times and then return it so another family can have fun with it. Many of the toys at the Toy Library have been in circulation for over a decade, and some have even been a part of the collection so long that members come to hire it for their grandkids and say “I remember hiring this for my kids!” The Gisborne Toy Library makes it a priority to buy high-quality toys that can be shared for as long as possible before heading to landfill.
When you join the Gisborne Toy Library, you’re also becoming a part of a community. The Gisborne Toy Library is a place where parents, grandparents and caregivers can meet while the kids play, and the librarian is always there for a chat or to show off the new toys. While the kids are busy enjoying new toys, a tired adult can sit with a cuppa and have a moment’s peace. The Gisborne Toy Library is run by a small group of parent volunteers who do the mahi to keep the place going and have a lot of fun while doing it.
One of the quiet joys of joining our local Toy Library is that we are teaching our children to be part of a community and be a part of a circular economy. When they borrow a toy from the toy library, they are taught to respect it because it’s not just their individual possession, but a treasure to be shared across our community. On toy library day, kids learn to find all the pieces, wipe them down, get them back in the correct box and return it on time, which teaches them those invaluable skills of sharing, caring and responsibility.
So why not head down to Innes Street to see the amazing treasure trove of toys waiting to be hired at the Gisborne Toy Library?
The Toy Library is open 10 am to 1 pm on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 91 Innes St. For more info, head to the Facebook page or email gisbornetoylibrary@gmail.com.