Our current hire period is four weeks.
You can hire a maximum of 5 toys at any one time.
We will give you a few weeks to locate it but if it is still not found a fine of $5 per piece is charged – this is refunded if you find the pieces and return them at any stage.
Firstly, please tell us. We check toys but it’s great if you tell us as soon as it happens.
We will assess the age/quality of the toy and the part that is broken. We understand that some damage is going to happen and we do our best to repair where possible. Any extensive or critical damage will be considered by the Dunedin City Toy Library Committee and we may require you to pay for repairing or replacing the toy.
Yes! Our library is snug, especially when it gets busy, but feel free to let your children play with the toys while you are in the library – it’s a great way to let them choose what they would like to take home with them. All we ask is that you be mindful of others in the space and pack them up once they are finished playing with them.
The Dunedin City Toy Library (DCTL) is 100% volunteer-run and we rely on our awesome committee and members to keep us going.
Our committee takes care of the administration, runs the library sessions, buys and looks after the toys, and coordinates any community events we get involved with.
We are a registered charity and we buy new toys and take care of any costs with funds from membership and toy-hire fees and from various grants and lotteries that we receive.
The library is part of the Federation of Toy Libraries New Zealand which is a knowledge support network for toy libraries all over the country. Find out more about the federation through their website: Federation of Toy Libraries New Zealand website
Yes, we are open on school and most public holidays. Coming to the toy library is a great holiday activity! We do close for a 5-6 week break over the Christmas-New Year period. Temporary memberships are paused during this time.
Please check our website, Facebook page and membership emails for any changes to our hours.
Absolutely – we will take the $10 you paid for your temporary membership off any other membership type and extend it to a year from your original start date – however you cannot join up with another temporary membership
Unfortunately at this stage reservations are not a service we currently offer. This may change in the future however.
A late fee will be charged for overdue toys at the same rate as toy hire eg. a $2 toy rental will have a $2 late fee. A late fee is charged when a toy is overdue by more than 2 weeks. Some of our toys are in hot demand so we strongly encourage you to return toys on time, or email us to renew them.
Simply fill out our online Membership form, and make your membership fee payment by NZ bank deposit to:
* Include membership name in reference.
See you at our next session!
Any payments for toy hire or memberships can be paid by NZ bank deposit to:
* Include membership name in reference.
Please email us or talk to one of our duty librarians to arrange this.
Absolutely. Either write it on a bit of paper and add it to the suggestion box in the library, email us, or join the committee and become our toy buyer!
We have annual AGMs (where we elect committee members), and a stocktake day each year. Watch out for event notices in the membership emails that get sent around.
We buy new toys and take care of any costs with funds from membership and toy-hire fees and from various grants and lotteries that we receive.