This is a volunteer-led, non-profit toy-lending service that is about reducing waste and over-consumption of toys by allowing people who mind and care for children to borrow toys instead of having to buy new ones. The toys are also carefully chosen to be as sustainable as possible and many are ‘pre-loved’“second
Where?
Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, Ireland
Who started this action?
The library was set up in 2020 by a small group of parents, including Jill Kennon and Elaine Murphy-Byrne.
Some quick facts about the project
- Families and caregivers of children from 0-8 years of age are the main users.
- Schools and early years places also use the service.
- Volunteers run the library with the local community donating toys.
- Toy lending service: members borrow up to four toys at a time for up to three weeks.
- They have an online catalogue with system you can use to reserve toys.
- There are also “Stay & Play” sessions, with pop-up play sessions based on themes like ‘a forest school’, music play sessions.
- They rent out what they call a ‘Party kit’ with re-useable equipment for party games.
- The founders (Jill Kennon & Elaine Murphy-Byrne) won Community Volunteer of the Year in the All-Ireland Community and Council Awards.
Highlights Click toggle ⊕ to see these
- It began just with conversations among parents about toy libraries during carer-and-toddle groups.
- To begin, the group raised money and had toy drives to collect donated toys.
- They borrowed small space originally (a room in the workhouse in Carrickmacross), then later moved into the local Shopping Centre to be nearer families
- The project reduces waste: less toys bought. Most of these are plastic and difficult to recycle.
- Helps families save money.
- The group has very affordable joining costs.
- The Toy library also gives care-givers information about more sustainable toys.
- The Project was given funding many sources including The Ireland Funds (Heart of the Community Fund).
- It was given social enterprise funding under Rethink Ireland’s Genesis Programme.
Why this matters
The project thinks carefully about both sustainability and about helping children and families with less money that others. Its ‘pre-loved’ and sustainably made toys mean that children will use less toys with screens or battery-powered games when possible. It promotes ‘open ended’ playing where kids can just make up how to play themselves.
It gives other services beyond simple toy lending. These include including community play events and cloth-nappy meet ups
SDG Alignment & Keywords Click toggle ⊕ to see these
- SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being,
- SDG 4: Quality Education,
- SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities,
- SDG 12: Responsible Consumption & Production,
- SDG 13: Climate Action,
- SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals
Keywords: Circular Economy, Waste Reduction, Community Resource, Play and learning, Monaghan.
Find Out More about the project
Website: Carrickmacross Toy Library
Contact: info@cmxtoylibrary.ie
Carrickmacross Toy Library is a registered charity (no. 20205141) and a member of the International Toy Library Association (ITLA).
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