Through the eco-activist toy store owner Sharon Keilthy, Suircan member Louise Lalor became aware of the existence of toy libraries. They are very popular all over the world but there aren't too many in Ireland yet. Toy libraries are like book libraries - you can take out toys and bring them back after a certain amount of time and then someone else can have the chance to play with them. Inspired by the Facebook group Ireland Community Toy Libraries Action Set, Carrickmacross Toy Library in Monaghan and Bandbridge Toy Library in Co. Down, Louise went about bringing toy libraries to Tipperary. She set up a small toy collection for loan in Cashel Public Library. With support from Suircan, she then co-founded Clonmel Toy Library with Jenny from Zero Waste Tipperary in a room beside the Zero Waste shop.
The toy library is open on the last Saturday of every month and children take out up to 3 toys each for the month. (There are also longer loan times for certain baby toys which might be needed for a few months.) Children love coming for their monthly trip to the library but some parents also come without children and pick toys for them. Grandparents are using the library too.
New volunteer, Emily, has been a great addition to the team. All the toys are second hand and they have a very large range now, mainly catering for ages 0-8 but also have lots of board games and a collection of difficult jigsaws.
An average of 50 toys are taken out every month, proving that the library is a real success story.
We would love to see toy libraries taking off in every county in Ireland for both environmental reasons and social reasons. The toy industry is the world's most plastic intensive industry with 90% of toys being made from virgin petro-plastic. Even teddy bears and soft toys are mostly made from plastics like polyester. Due to the mix of materials used in toys they are very difficult to recycle and usually end up in general waste - which in Ireland mostly goes to incineration. Toy libraries, make plastic toys more eco-friendly because it helps to keep them in circulation. Socially, children are inspired to play and to use their imagination by having access to different toys. The importance of play in a child's life cannot be underestimated. Anything we can do to encourage children to play is beneficial to them and to society.
Parents also get the chance to see what toys the children actually like to play with and can tell Santy if something is worth having permanently in their home. Toys can be very expensive so families who use toy libraries save money.
Ireland needs more toy libraries!
Please contact suircanclonmel@gmail.com for more details
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