Episode 5: The people who know where all the pieces go | The Toy Library Effect Podcast
- 2 days ago
- 13 min read
Updated: 16 hours ago
What makes a toy library much more than a place to borrow toys?
In Episode 5 of The Toy Library Effect, host Penny Johnston meets toy librarians and volunteers from across Australia to explore what happens inside a toy library, and the knowledge, flexibility and community connection that make these services such valuable resources for children, families and professionals.
Listen now:
In this episode
What actually happens during a toy library session.
How toy librarians and volunteers help families navigate large and varied toy collections.
Why flexibility and removing barriers are important to toy library services.
How toy libraries create opportunities for connection, conversation and belonging.
Ways toy libraries are becoming more inclusive for children, families and volunteers.
How partnerships with allied health professionals can strengthen toy collections and support families.
Episode overview
Toy libraries come in many different shapes and sizes, but they share a common purpose: helping families access quality play experiences. In this episode, toy librarians and volunteers from around Australia take us behind the scenes of their services.
They explain how borrowing works, how families choose toys and the different ways toy libraries make their services more accessible, from concession and trial memberships to flexible returns and even click-and-collect lockers.
But a toy library session is about much more than borrowing. Toy librarians and volunteers get to know their collections and their communities. They hear families' questions and concerns, help them find toys that suit their children and create welcoming spaces where parents and caregivers can connect with others.
The episode also explores how toy libraries are becoming increasingly intentional about inclusion. This includes offering flexible volunteering opportunities, developing sensory collections and working directly with families and professionals to better understand what children need.
Partnerships with allied health professionals are another important opportunity. By visiting toy libraries, understanding their collections and sharing their expertise, professionals can help families find toys that support children's development and help toy libraries make informed decisions about their collections and resources.
Ultimately, the people who work and volunteer in toy libraries bring together knowledge of toys, families and their local communities. For professionals supporting children and families, getting to know your local toy library and the people who know where all the pieces go, can open up a valuable community resource.
Meet our guests
Penny Johnston
Podcast host
Penny Johnston is an experienced Australian broadcaster and podcast host, best known for her work with ABC Radio and the Babytalk podcast. In The Toy Library Effect, she speaks with families, toy library leaders and child development professionals about the power of play, connection and community.
Eila
Volunteer, Kalamunda Toy Library – Western Australia
Eila has been involved with Kalamunda Toy Library in the Perth Hills for eight years, joining the committee after having her first child. She shares how flexibility, communication and putting members first can help remove barriers for families using a toy library.
Colleen
Volunteer, Knox Toy Library – Victoria
Colleen helps lead Knox Toy Library in Melbourne's outer east, supporting its volunteers and committee. She shares how toy libraries can create a strong sense of community and offer flexible ways for people with different abilities and circumstances to volunteer and contribute..
Catherine
Toy Librarian, Kingston Toy Library – Victoria
Kathryn oversees the day-to-day operations of Kingston Toy Library in Melbourne. She shares how understanding both the toy collection and individual families can help connect children with toys that suit their interests, abilities and developmental needs.
Alisha
Former Project Officer, Grovedale Toy Library – Victoria
Alisha worked with Grovedale Toy Library in Geelong, a community-based service supporting families with young children. She shares how toy libraries can build inclusion through sensory resources, community partnerships and opportunities for families to connect.
Heather
Toy Librarian, Burnside Toy Library – South Australia
Heather works at Burnside Toy Library, a council-run service with thousands of toys and a large community of families. She discusses the breadth of resources available through toy libraries and how their variety can help families find toys that work for their individual child.
Transcript
Episode 5: The people who know where all the pieces go
Welcome to the Toy Library Effect podcast, brought to you by Toy Libraries Australia. My name is Penny Johnston, and I am your host for this series of five episodes. In this series, we're exploring how toy libraries support children's development, strengthen communities, and work alongside families and professionals to make play more accessible.
In previous episodes, we've heard from allied health professionals about the value of play based learning and the role toy libraries can play in supporting children's development. In this episode, we're turning our attention to the people at the heart of toy libraries themselves. The toy librarians and volunteers who welcome families every day. They're the people who know the toy collection inside out. They see which toys are borrowed most often, hear parents’ concerns answer questions, and quietly build a deep understanding of what families need.
Their insights reveal not only how toy libraries operate, but also why they've become such a valuable community resource. Every toy library looks a little different, but they all share a common purpose - helping families access quality play experiences. Let's meet some of the amazing humans from toy libraries across Australia.
Eila is a volunteer from the Kalamunda Toy Library in the Perth Hills of WA.
“We’re an average sized library with about 40 to 60 families. I've been involved with the toy library for eight years now, and I joined straight onto the committee after having my first child.”
Colleen, a volunteer from Knox Toy Library in Melbourne's outer east.
“I guess you could say I'm the boss, I'm the boss lady of the toy library. At least that's what I tell my daughter when she asks what mummy is doing at the toy library. So, I look after our volunteers, our committee, host the meetings and sort of just make sure that we're doing all the right things.”
Kathryn, one of the toy librarians from Wyndham Little Buddies toy library in Melbourne's west.
“We've got three branches. So, the branch I work at is at Manor Lakes. With all the three branches, we've got about 700 members. Manor Lakes is based in a family centre, so it's got kindergarten and maternal child health nurse as well.”
Another Catherine, this time from Kingston Toy Library in Bayside, Melbourne.
“I'm the paid toy librarian so I oversee all the day-to-day operations. We're close to 250 families. We've got lots of grandparents that are regular borrowers and members too.”
Alisha, who recently worked with Grovedale Toy Library in Victoria as a project officer.
“We're in Geelong, so down towards the south coast. We've got a really broad mix of families that come in to use the toy library, mostly preschool aged children, right from babies up until school age. It's located in a community centre right near a playground, so it's a real kind of hub for families.”
And Heather is a toy librarian from Burnside Toy Library in South Australia.
“So, our toy library is about 30 years old. Ours is the council run tour library. We have 1800 families on or off. We have over 4000 toys.
While every tour library has its own character, sessions often combine borrowing, play and connection.
“It is a bit like a candy store. You kind of see kids with the eyes go wide the first time with the loads and loads of toys. And people are often worried about their kids running amok. But the way that it's set out, most of our toys are in containers. So, you peruse the shelves, you choose your toys, and you take them home before you play.”
“Our toy library has over 3500 toys in it now. We're quite fortunate, we're in quite a large space, as it used to be, many, many moons ago, a kinder. So, we've actually got a really giant outdoor area, which is something that not a lot of other toy libraries generally have. And so a session for us generally runs for two hours. So, a lot of our members tend to stay and hang out. It's what I do with my family when we come on a session as we choose some toys. But we're also there for play, and it's really nice to be able to stay there, especially when the weather's not so great as well. It's nice to have something indoors that you can do with your little one.”
“Part of the membership is being a volunteer, so we'll have our volunteer members come in and help with setting up, as well as some community volunteers, and then people bring in their toys to return. There's lots of browsing and playing happening during the sessions. There's some couches there, so there's often people sort of sitting and having a chat while kids are playing, so it's a real community feeling.”
For clinicians, you haven't visited a toy library before. The borrowing process is often much simpler than they expect. Families choose toys, take them home for a set period, and then return them to swap for something new.
“We've got either a four toys membership or an eight-toy membership. They're an annual membership, and then we offer concession prices with both of those, so that's just a flat half price off our full fee. And that way we hope that it's more accessible for everybody that comes through. We do offer a small trial membership as well. So that's a smaller amount of toys for a shorter period of time. And that often helps people get through the door and see what we're about.”
“For our library, you can borrow seven toys at a time, and there's no restriction of what types. It's just open to everything. You take them home for two weeks, and then you have an option to either renew your toys or bring them back so you can have them, you can renew twice to have them up to six weeks.”
Flexibility is a recurring theme in how toy libraries operate on a day-to-day basis. Toy libraries understand that families are busy and toy parts can mysteriously disappear just when you need to return them to the toy library. Toy libraries work hard to remove barriers to participation.
“People always lose pieces. Things get damaged. It's just a part of life, and everyone that's working and volunteering at the toy library is a parent or grandparent. So, we're very understanding, and our priority at Kalamunda is definitely the members over the toys. So, the biggest thing we ask is for communication. If something goes missing, you send us an email or you pop in and say, hey, I can't find this piece, what should I do? And from there we've got a procedure of we might have spares in our storeroom that we can just replace them with. Our biggest damage we get is normally from puppies and not children.”
“Things happen. You can't always bring things back on time. We're pretty flexible with those sorts of things. We typically just ask members to send us an email or just give us a bit of a heads up, and then we just renew them until they can return them.”
“The other thing that we also do to try and remove that barrier and make it a little bit more accessible, is that we offer lockers. So, like click and collect service, and we've got these big, massive oversize school bag types of lockers. And 80 to 90% of our collection really fits in those lockers. We've got two booking time slots across the week, and families can book to come through, and it just means they've got to drive down to the front door, unload their old toys, and they just switch the toys over. It just gives a little bit more flexibility for our families, because it is a challenge with the limited opening hours that we can offer. And it's the same with many other toy libraries, that being a community service, we don't have infinite funds to open 24/7. So, this is a workaround we've discovered and kind of tapped into.”
Ask any toy library what happens during a session, and you'll hear that it's about much more than borrowing toys. It's often a place where parents seek reassurance, share their concerns, and connect with others who understand.
“So I think people will often kind of raise. Oh, you know, what kind of toys do you think might be good for this? Or here's what my child is working on, and I'm feeling a bit worried about that. And I think it just becomes a place where people feel quite comfortable to share about what's happening with their parenting and with their children, which is really nice.”
“New members will come in and they'll go Oh, my child's just been diagnosed this, they're not sure what it really means. For me, and I think I've found it helpful with the families, and I think they've appreciated it, my openness about it's okay, I'm a mum of kids with additional needs, I get it. Your kid likes to throw toys, right? Let's get some safe toys that are okay for throwing. Let's get some toys that we've got lots of spares about. You know, nothing with that specific piece. Let's have a look. Let's have a look at the big gross motor stuff, that's big, one item, so you're not stressed about borrowing something with loads of pieces.”
Toy libraries are becoming increasingly intentional about inclusion. Many are adopting creative ways to involve members of all abilities in volunteering. Others are actively expanding their collections and partnerships to better support children with diverse developmental profiles. Often, these changes are driven directly by families, clinicians, and community feedback.
“I think from that clinician standpoint and an important part to understand is the volunteering component. So, we're very flexible at our toy library to be offering opportunities for people to volunteer in all different types of ways. So, the traditional is, come in and support a session, but that can be difficult if you have a child with disability or developmental delay. That's not always that easy. So, we're definitely a very flexible toy library in that sense, we’re trying to work with families for what they need and supporting them the best we can. A lot of my work has been around isolation, loneliness and the importance of community connection. And when I'm in the library, that's what I see happens so much, people being able to be a part of a community and I think the volunteering aspect helps that as well, because people are also giving back.”
“We're introducing a new sensory section as well. We've been working with a couple of our members who also have occupational therapist backgrounds to choose some of the toys and different things that will help create a bit more of a place where you can, especially, I think some of those things can be quite expensive, giving a bit more access to things like that as well, to help children engage in play in a way that suits them. I think it's a really good thing to do.”
“We worked with a local sensory shop, and they developed two boxes for us, so we had sensory tools for calming. So, you know, it had like a weighted toy, a weighted shoulder pad, a few different items so families could try what worked for their child. And then another box had sensory tools for focus. So, it's a more fidget things, chair bands, just things that might help children when they're sitting down and help to focus.”
“Often, we have kids that come in and are going through therapy, and a lot of the time they have to do homework, like they have to practice those skills during the week. So, we can then assist them through their therapist to get some toys that will help them with that homework. So instead of buying hundreds and hundreds of toys just to be able to do one step, you're much better to join the toy library
and borrow those toys. Majority of toys can be used for every child. If it's a shape sorted and they're not able to grasp it, you just pick another shape sorter that's a bit bigger. That's what's good about libraries. We have such a variety of toys. We'll have 6 or 7 different shapes orders. It's not going to be like we just have one shape, sort of. That's it. So, you can sort of look at it and go, look, that's too small for my child or that's too big for my child, oh, this is the perfect one for my child.”
Many toy libraries are also building stronger relationships with allied health professionals. These partnerships help clinicians understand what toy libraries offer and help toys libraries better support therapeutic goals.
“So, we've actually been working with Western Kids Health. They run a huge range of therapy services and they're collaborating with us. They're actually creating parent resources specifically for the toys in our library to guide parents for this toy could be used for your fine motor skills. This is how you could engage with it or imaginative play is great for speech development. Here are some play prompts of what you could do with this toy set. So, if it's a restaurant, these are some scenarios you could work through.”
“We did recently have about 10 or 11 speech therapists come into the centre to have a bit of a look around, get an understanding of who we are and what we do so that if they are interested in bringing some of their clients through to choose things, or whether there's things that they can suggest that would be helpful for therapy and that they have the tools to do that, and they realise that we're here and available, and we do have a lot of those things that can help with stuff like that.”
“Also, I’ve approached families who are seeing allied health and say, is there anything that you're being recommended that we don't have? And some families go and give us a big list, and then I go through, actually, this isn't the exact thing, but it does the same job. I never knew you had it. And just asking them, what are their needs? What do you want? Because sometimes they don't really know what they want. They're like, oh fine motor, but whereabouts are we learning fine motor. So, when you get suggestions straight from their therapist, so just often just forward us the email. This is what they suggest okay. Well, we've got all these. We haven't got these. That looks good. We put it to committee and more often we can get it in and incorporate it into the toy library.”
“We've recently done some filming on development milestones and how to use some of our toys from a therapist perspective, and what sort of skills they're going to join and how to do that properly. And they just loved it. So, it's been really good having them in and just getting that feedback.”
What these toy librarians and volunteers demonstrate is that toy libraries are much more than places to borrow toys. They are community hubs. They help families access high quality play experiences without the financial burden of purchasing everything themselves. They provide opportunities for children to explore, learn, and develop through play. They offer practical support for clinicians seeking ways to extend therapy into everyday life. And perhaps most importantly, they create welcoming spaces where families can connect, ask questions and feel supported. For clinicians who haven't yet explored their local toy library, this episode is an invitation. Visit! Browse the shelves, meet the volunteers, and talk with the toy team members. You may discover one of the most valuable resources available to support children and families in your community.
This podcast series was made possible through funding from the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing.
Thanks for listening.