Whanganui's toy library celebrates 10 years at London St site

Whanganui Toy Library librarian Rose Woon and chairwoman Rowena Spoke will be celebrating 10 years in their London Street site come December. Photo / Bevan Conley

Whanganui Toy Library will have a double celebration in December.

It will mark 10 years since it moved to its London St premises and the organisation will also celebrate the joy of sustainable Christmas presents.

The premises was built in December 2009 with a bequest from husband and wife Noel and Margaret Gopperth who were Whanganui toy makers.

Rose Woon, the librarian of six-and-a-half years, said a lot had changed for the not-for-profit organisation over the last 10 years, with the biggest factor being sustainability.

She said members used the service to re-use toys and they were also more conscious of the toys they bought for the library.

"We've been doing quite well, we seem to have formed some really strong bonds with organisations locally and nationally that are giving us money for toys so we seem to be able to buy new toys a lot more than we used to."

Woon said organisations seemed to like the initiative behind the charity and were happy to donate to it.

She said there had also been a huge shift in understanding of the importance of play for children aged 8 and under.

"When buying educational toys or puzzles, kids move so quickly through the stages so you may have one child that stays on one development stage longer than another so you end up forking out so much money for those things."

Woon said the Toy Library had many different toys and puzzles and children could choose what suits them and their development stage.

Toys range from play sets, musical instruments and costumes to outdoor bikes and coupe cars. There is also a large range of puzzles and games.

The library operates on a membership system. Families pay an annual subscription of $30 to $80, depending on their circumstances.

Deb Griffiths, Jasmine Ritchie, Rose Woon and Andrea Zander outside Whanganui Prison with toys made by the inmates for the Whanganui Toy Library in 2018. Photo / Bevan Conley

Woon said the organisation has been operating in Whanganui for almost 40 years and had always remained community-focused, with a foundation of "let the children play".

"Everyone's coming together to let the children play and it's so important for their development and so important to the community that the children have access to these affordable good sustainable toys to help them with that."

Heading into Christmas, Woon encouraged parents to keep things basic and, when buying children's toys, to look for items that were not going to age.

She said the Toy Library still holds a number of toys from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s that are still popular.

Woon encouraged families that were struggling for a gift idea to buy vouchers or membership for the Toy Library.

Woon said in the last six months there had been a large increase in members to about 100 families, which meant 320 children had access to the library.

"We get a large number of grandparents who are members so they can get items when they have kids here in the holidays.

"For one membership they can sort toys for four grandchildren at a time."

Children up to age 8 can then borrow as many toys or puzzles as they like for two weeks.

Toys are 50c and puzzles are free.

The library is run by a committee of five women and is open Thursdays 9.30am-11.30am and Saturdays 10am-midday.