It’s as simple as signing up as a member, and then visiting the library to select your toys! Browsing the library means that you always have the opportunity to come across the ‘hidden gem’ – something you might not look at twice in a toy shop, but becomes your child’s favourite toy during the borrowing period!
You can also use our online toy system SETLS to view available toys before you visit.
There’s a long list of reasons why you should join a Toy Library, but some of the most common reasons are:
Yes, of course! You can visit during our opening hours (see below in footer), and our experienced and friendly session coordinators will be very happy to show you around the Toy Library and explain how it all works.
You can then sign up as a member on the spot, or take some time to think about it and sign up here.
It depends on your individual circumstances! Some families with children of different ages will choose the Enthusiastic membership level (8 toys, 3 puzzles), while a family with one infant may only choose the Basic membership (4 toys, 1 puzzle).
Some of our member families with tweens and teens opt for the Games membership (3 board games or puzzles).
You can read more about our different levels of memberships here, and if in doubt, please get in touch and we’ll be happy to guide you through the options.
The Toy Library is a community organisation, and we rely on our members to keep us running! To do this, all members have to do a number of volunteer duties every year, which can include participating in fundraising events, and also ensure that toys are clean when you return them. You can find out more about this on the Member Commitments page.
We understand that life can get in the way sometimes! If you don’t have time to do your volunteer duties, you can always pay the Duty Levy of $120 per year.
We do recommend that people make the time to volunteer though, as volunteering helps to make you a more confident borrower, and you get to see how it all works. If you like, you can always bring people along to help you complete your volunteer hours faster – e.g. bring a friend or a grandparent to complete a volunteer duty with you and you will complete your hours twice as fast!
Most of the time you will be completing your volunteer hours in the toy library, helping out with counting, re-shelving, cleaning or cataloguing toys. You may also assist visiting members with returning or borrowing their toys through our online system.
We also require volunteers for our special events, like the Bunnings BBQ and Farmer’s Market.
There is no compulsory fundraising requirement. We raise funds by hosting a Bunnings BBQ every year and providing volunteers for the local Bentleigh farmer’s market. We also have some small optional fundraisers like buying some of our Bee Wrappy beeswax wraps.
This depends on your level of membership! Find out more on our member profiles page here. If you’ve forgotten which level of membership you have, just check with our friendly session coordinators on your next visit to our Toy Library.
All toys, with the exception of our Party Packs, can be borrowed for a three week period, with a one week grace period. Toys returned beyond this time frame incur late fines. The toys may be returned early, and members can visit and borrow as often as they wish.
We will only accept returned toys that are clean. If toys are returned unclean, not only does this take up our Coordinator’s valuable time having to clean them ourselves, but it also means the toys are off the shelf for other members for longer. You can find a full toy cleaning guide here.
If you have reached the end of your annual membership period, you will receive an email asking if you want to renew your membership or not.
If you decide not to continue, then you can simply fill out our Exit survey and submit details to receive your Bond payment refund (less any monies due for outstanding duties/fees).
If you do not fill out the Exit survey, or make other arrangements to receive your Bond refund, then it will be forfeited after a period of 6 months following Membership expiry.
We would love to accept money donations, however, our not-for-profit status does not allow us to provide tax-deductible receipts for donations. If you don’t need a tax-deductible receipt, then we gladly accept donations via Paypal. Please get in touch with us to organise.
We welcome toy donations! Before you bring in your donations, please check with our session coordinators on your next visit to make sure the toy is appropriate. Here’s some general guidelines – donated toys should be: