We had to pay a joining fee as well as a yearly membership fee, I think together it was $60 - $70. We had to do 2 hour duty twice a term, no additional payment to avoid it. There was 1 or 2 compulsary days through the year like stocktake or toy sales.
We could borrow a big toy like a car or kitchen as well as 3 smaller toys for 2 weeks. I went all last year but gave it away this year. I always had to take Moo with me which was difficult. Plus there were 4 or 5 parents on but only 2 computers so half us stood around doing nothing. Could think of better ways to spend my Saturdays
Just remembered we also had to pay a fine for late returns or if we lost a piece of a toy (even if you brought it back). There was also a party pack we hired that had heaps of stuff in it, was a big hit at Mo's birthday party! Contained a slide, roller coasters, table & chairs, cars, climbing frame & see saws
I think Toy Libraries are very valuable & can be great places to be a part of. I just think mine wasn't very well organised unfortunately. I might pick it up again when Moo is older.
Last edited by ~Hestia~; February 27th, 2011 at 07:41 AM.
we have an excellent toy library. Membership is *usually* $60 pa but they had a special for $30 when we joined.
You get 7 toys per fortnight including 3 'big' items like cars/bikes/acitvity centres/play bbqs/slippery dips/ climbing frames/foam climbing mats etc etc You pay $3.30 per big item as an insurance against damage.
there's no volunteer requirement and it's run in the same building as the playgroup assoc, so is very well used by a huge cross section of the community.
Ours has heaps of toys, a special needs area, books with the 'characters' included and a play area where you can just bring the kids, they can play with the toys and you can have a cuppa for a gold coin donation!
Ours is $12 per year with no requirement for helping out. It's on fortnightly and you borrow for a fortnight, or 4 weeks if you live a bit further away (like we do). Only open during term time, so if you borrow before the holidays you get it for the whole holidays. They take reservations for the summer holidays for the popular toys. We have quite a big range of things, it's run by the local Anglican church so I'm not sure what extra funding they do receive. As far as I know there are no restrictions on the number of toys you can borrow at a time, but we've never taken more than 2 or 3 anyway.
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