Toy library may close

After excitedly joining the Coffs Harbour Toy Library last month, I have since found out that they look like they have to close because of lack of funds.

After speaking with one of the other toy library members I found out that for the past couple of years the committee have approached council for help with paying the rent and have applied for grants, but have gotten nowhere.  Even inviting each counsellor out to have a look at the toy library only resulted in two of them bothering to turn up.  What a shame that the council is so apathetic about a service that provides such a wonderful resource to Coffs Coast families.

In the month that I had the toys that I borrowed, Ellie has learned to walk.  She was just starting to take a few tentative steps, and I thought a few 'push along' toys would be good for her to gain her confidence.  This was the reason that I first signed up at the toy library.  It seemed silly and wasteful to buy a toy that would suit a developmental stage that she would only be in for such a short time.
On Friday we returned our first lot of toys and were able to borrow a whole lot more that now better suit her as she moves to a new developmental stage of walking independently.

Here is a letter that I have drafted and intend to send to Council.  I don't know if it will do any good, but the more people who speak up, hopefully they will start to take notice.  Families of Coffs Harbour definitely deserve a better deal.

How can the Coffs Harbour City Council sit back and allow the Coffs Coast community to lose the fantastic resource of the Toy Library?

The Toy Library has been running for 30 years and has served generations of Coffs Coast children.  It has enabled families to access a variety of quality toys at very low cost. By being able to borrow toys relevant to a child’s developmental stage of growth, the toy library ticks the boxes of being environmentally, socially, and economically responsible. Yet now, we are at risk of losing this service due a lack of funds.  The volunteer and membership base that runs and pays for the service can no longer meet its rising costs.

 

The Coffs Harbour Toy library attracts no outside funding.  It is financed through the levying of membership fees upon its members and volunteers.  Unfortunately, membership fees can barely cover rent let alone the purchase and repair of toys and general running costs.  The toy library now needs a commitment of funding from an outside source in order to ensure its survival. We in Coffs Harbour cannot afford to lose this wonderful resource.  For a relatively small investment council could reap huge dividends for the children of Coffs Harbour.  The library is already established, with a large base of toys that can be borrowed, and is staffed by volunteers. By meeting running costs and rent council could ensure the toy library’s continued service.

The toy library benefits the Coffs coast in three key ways:

Environmentally it is a winner. We often pay lip service to the mantra of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, yet here the toy library is an embodiment of this principle. By allowing families to borrow toys that suit the current developmental stage of their children, they are:

Reducing the amount of consumable products they are purchasing, which the children then out grow and then are inevitably thrown away, ending up as landfill.  Has the council looked at just how much of their landfill is comprised of discarded plastic toys?

Reuse of the toys occurs for many more years than would be the case if they were purchased by individuals for individual use. The toys are cared for, stored correctly and repaired where necessary to ensure their longevity and their availability to countless numbers of borrowers.  The toys get to fulfil a long useful life that lasts longer than they would if used by just one or two children.

Recycle, families can donate quality toys to be used by the Toy library.  These toys then can enter the cycle of reuse through lending to members.

 

Socially and economically the toy library contributes huge benefits to Coffs Harbour families. Coffs Harbour is notably a low socio economic area.  What better way to help families that are struggling financially than to have a toy lending service?  If we didn’t already have a service like this, it would be something that council would need to consider setting up in order to help children from disadvantaged families. Council has a responsibility to provide services for all ages and to provide opportunities for disadvantaged families to access relevant quality services. The toy library is one such service, and it is important to all Coffs Coast families.  It represents the type of service that the council should be obliged to provide. Yet here we are not even asking for it to be entirely funded and run by council, but for council to just contribute a regular amount of ongoing funding to ensure the service’s continuance.

 

I urge the Coffs Harbour City Council to take a serious look at the issue of funding the Coffs Harbour Toy Library service.  The toy library represents great value for council’s money because it achieves the triple bottom line of environmental, social and economic accountability.  Coffs Coast, in particular, but the council, more broadly cannot afford to let this service fold.  A commitment to regular funding or a viable solution to finding a low rent facility needs to become a council priority.

 

 

 

Ellie can do lots of things

It's amazing to witness the incredible things that a nine month old can do.  Only nine months old and already Ellie has a really good understanding of what you say to her.  She is able to eat, move, babble some words, and explore her world.

Ellie has a fascination with our dog Schnitzel.  She wants to touch and poke him whenever she is near him. Unfortunately Schnitzel takes every opportunity to lick her on the face, gross.  Schnitzel tolerates Ellie and he really is very good with coping with her poking him and pulling his ears.  I still have to keep a close eye on the both of them, though, because no matter how placid, a dog is still a dog.  They have sharp teeth, quick reflexes and unpredictable ways.

 Schnitzel

 

Many, many years ago now when we still had Steve's dog Chelsea, a kelpie cross, she snapped suddenly at one of my nieces.  Now Chelsea was the most lovely dog who was great with kids.  The kids were always playing with her and she put up with all of their attentions with good grace. But this one day she lashed out and snarled at my niece, it was so totally out of character that we all rushed across to see what was up.  Chelsea was getting older, so probably had less tolerance for all the touching and feeling, but one thing we discovered close by was a lighter.  We didn't see it, so don't know for sure, but suspect that the child has tried to burn the dog. No wonder she lashed out.  Luckily, Chelsea just snapped and snarled, she didn't bite or hurt the child at all.  It is a reminder though, that any dog can lash out at a child, so they need to be watched always.

Chelsea

 

There are a few rules with handling dogs like no approaching them from behind and not disturbing them while they are eating.  These are hard to enforce with a nine month old who just wants to grab hold of any part of the dog that she can manage to reach.  She is also partial to sharing the dog's bones, yuk. Today Ellie kept trying to pick up the dog's discarded bones.  Just by using my tone of voice and firmly telling her 'no the bones are Schnitzel's', she would put them back down again.  Then I asked her to come into the shade and she crawled across to us in the undercover area.  She has learnt how to negotiate a couple of steps, after we showed her and talked to her about going down backwards.  She is getting the concept of 'ta' and although she's not saying it yet (she still grizzles for what she wants) she knows to hand an item to me when I put out my hand and say 'ta'.  Today, for example, I decided that I wanted my keys that she had been playing with so that I could unlock the house. The keys had been discarded where I could not see them.  I asked Ellie to get them for me by saying 'ta for mummy's keys, ta for mummy's keys'.  She knew exactly what I wanted and went to get them, then she handed them to me, repeatedly, as it now had turned into a game.

 Ellie

We went to the Coffs Coast Apex Toy library today because as Ellie is on the cusp of walking by herself I thought some walkers could be a fun thing to hire for her. It seems like a waste of money to buy something that she may only use for a matter of weeks.  The membership cost $90 for the year and it allows us to borrow 4 toys and 1 puzzle for up to a month.  Inside that month we can return and re-borrow as often as we like.  Harry had fond memories of being a member of the toy library when he was a toddler.  He was so excited that we were going there today that he ensured that Steve left the big car for us to use.

 Harry