LONDON’s East End got a chance to show off its huge collection of toys to a bunch of delegates from all over the world.
The delegates planning next year’s international Toy Library Association conference in Paris came from across the globe, from France, Belgium, Italy, South Africa, Brazil, Japan and South Korea, to look at the new Tower Hamlets Toyhouse centre.
They saw how it runs a cross-section of services from the centre, opened at St Paul’s Way, Bow Common, in November, only to discover the East End has the greatest number of toy libraries in the world!
The services include the Home Visiting mobile toy library, Early Years soft play, Burdett toy library including a ‘boom, bang, bees’ session, two baby clinic ‘play and Information’ sessions and special soft play.
Found throughout the UK, toy libraries offer services to local families based on regular toy loan for a nominal fee (and sometimes for free). They provide carefully selected toys to borrow, play sessions, and a friendly, informative meeting place for parents and carers.
The first toy library was started in 1967 by Jill Norris, a Froebel-trained teacher and mother of two children with disabilities. The idea grew from families exchanging toys in their own homes and fundraising to provide specialist toys and equipment. Soon recognised as a valuable resource for the community, by 1973 the scope had widened to offer all children the opportunity to borrow toys through local toy libraries.
Toy libraries are often run by volunteers; many are parents themselves. Some are run by paid workers and others are part of a service offered by professionals: nursery and school teachers, social workers, health workers and others. All NATLL member toy libraries are managed locally and are responsible for their own funding arrangements.
There are over 1,000 toy libraries throughout the UK, serving approximately 250,000 children.
These are the ramblings of 
No comments yet.