Words by Tess Becker
Recently, we covered an effort in the US and Australia to bring books to communities through mini street libraries that come in cute little boxes. Now there’s another growing trend that both countries share, Toy Libraries.
The cost of living around the world continues to rise, so anything that parents can do to make things more affordable is a good thing, and these toy libraries allow parents to get their kids' toys without breaking the bank.
The way that they work is by charging a small monthly fee to give parents access to large selections of toys, usually new, for their kids to use, allowing the kids to have variety while saving the parents money.
One such toy library is the Townsville Toy Library in Australia and the USA Toy Library Association keeps a massive list of many of them around the country.
In Australia, there are about 380 toy libraries and they serve around 130,000 people and growing.
“[Toy libraries] offer an important dimension to America's educational program by providing another environment of abundant play opportunity supplemented by a collection of high-grade toys; and a forum for discussion among parents, teachers and others,” USA Toy Library Association writes.
In general, the yearly membership is significantly less than the cost of toys and can saves parents hundreds throughout the year and also prevents toys from being left to waste when kids outgrow them.
“In the last three years, with all the toys that I've borrowed, I've saved $15,000 – it's huge,” Stacey Prenter, who uses the Townsville Toy Library, told ABC News.
Most toy libraries take donations so if you have leftover toys look up one in your area and bring them over!
