Going Green With Toy Libraries.pdf Going Green With Toy Libraries

Going green with toy libraries in Moseley
It’s a little known fact that Moseley has its very own fully equipped toy library.
Based at the Harris House building, just off the Wake Green Road, the facility
offers a huge range of toys both modern and traditional, for a variety of ages. Toys
can be borrowed for a period of time in much the same way you would expect with a
book library – it really is as simple as that!
One of the first Toy Libraries opened its doors in
London in the early seventies and since then the
popularity of toy libraries has blossomed both
world wide and in the UK, the West Midlands
and Birmingham having over 80 alone.
The National Association of Toy & Leisure
Libraries (NATLL) based in London was set up
40 years ago in order to support new and existing
toy libraries offering advice and practical
support. NATLL’s Birmingham staff based team
consists of a trained team of Outreach Workers
who are able to offer advice and support to
anyone wishing to set up a new toy library, and
offer ongoing support throughout that process.
Toy Libraries offer toys to a wide range of people from all walks of life. There are
many successful models for toy libraries, for example those run at Children’s
centre’s, nurseries, schools and church halls these are most commonly used and seen
but to make the service inclusive for all there are some mobile toy library facilities
in the area.
At the heart of all toy library borrowing is a parents desire to give their child the
best start in life – and it can’t be overstated the importance of play as the sound
foundations for any child’s education.
Apart from the obvious educational benefits and the
enormous potential to simply have fun, it’s always been
known that toy libraries are one of the greenest ways to
provide your child with quality toys. Many of our
national newspapers have sung the praises of toy
libraries in recent years. In 2007 the Radio Times
recommended Toy Libraries as one of many ‘Easy
Ways You Can Save The Planet’ and in March 2009
this year the Independent Newspaper hailed ‘The Rise
of The Toy Library’ as a thing of the future.

On consumerism, according to a 2007 Telegraph article it’s known that an
incredible 44 million bought toys are discarded each year from UK homes, and that
a child on average by the time they reach the age of 16, will have had over £11,000
worth of toys!
The cost to the environment is high – for instance PVC toys through their
manufacture release poisonous dioxins into the air - which have been linked to
cancer. Furthermore plastic is, as we know particularly difficult to biodegrade and
can literally take hundreds of years to disintegrate when placed in landfill sites.
With these sorts of statistics it’s easy to see how using toy library services can
benefit us all, and what’s more having a constant supply of different toys is a great
way to keep your child stimulated, happy and constantly learning.
The Telegraph article asked ‘what can you do? To
help your environment…seek out your local toy
library or organise a toy swap with friends’
Toy swapping is something the Birmingham
Outreach team are keen to get involved in and hope
that by organising some events and workshops in
the near future this will provide opportunities for
all to come and visit the Toy Library at Harris
House and see what toy libraries can offer.
Anyone expressing an interest on the above event, setting up their own toy library
or having a mobile service visit their play services please contact our Senior
Outreach Worker Jo Hill on: jo.c.hill@hotmail.co.uk or take a look at the
Associations website at: www.natll.org.uk for more information on what we can
offer.
Written by Sara Reynolds (Birmingham Outreach Worker for HOB)
Contact number 0792 7184 179