Parents fight plans to close toy library service
Local parents are campaigning against possibe closure of toy library. Adults pictured back L-R Kate Parsonson, Darren Kingston, Samantha Howkins and Cat Saunders.
PARENTS, grandparents and childcare workers are fighting plans to close a local toy library service, which they claim is an “invaluable resource” for children in Northamptonshire.
Northamptonshire County Council is currently consulting over plans to close the library, which operates out of a unit in Kings Heath, Northampton, as part of plans to save £50,000 a year from its budget.
Users say this will leave families and childcare workers without an essential service, and have set up a Facebook group and online petition to fight the proposals.
Mother-of-two Kate Parsonson, aged 30, from Kingsley, takes three-year-old son Dylan, and five-month-old baby Robyn to the toy library.
She said: “A lot of families can’t afford to buy equipment like garden slides, as they’re really expensive, whereas at the toy library you can hire them for three months over the summer for £12, which is the only time the children will really get use out of them anyway.”
The toy library is currently open to families with children aged up to 12 years old for a one-off membership charge of £5, as well as other childcare providers. Toys and pieces of play equipment can then be borrowed for up to three months for a small hire charge and the library has specialist equipment for children with disabilities.
Outlining plans to cut the service, budget documents seen by the Chronicle & Echo say 7,851 toys were borrowed by users of the service in 2010/2011. In that year users paid £12,155 in membership and hire fees, but the total cost of running the service was £62,120.
A spokesperson from the county council said: “We are consulting on a proposal to close the toy library service which is currently subsidised by the council at a cost of more than £6 per transaction.
“The proposal is part of our ongoing efforts to make savings, as well as remove duplication with other toy library services.”
To have your say on the proposals visit www.north amptonshire.gov.uk/local deal.
The petition can be found at http://epetition.north ants.public-i.tv/epetition _core/community/petition /1753.
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Comments
There are 20 comments to this article
Page 1 of 2
biff
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 06:57 AMok, so toys are for kids and kids don't need them because they get all the education, experience and entertainment they need from parks, schools and libraries...oh wait a minute, we dont need free education because us tax payers can just pay for private teachers and lets ditch libraries too because we can just buy all of those books. Oh yeah, and I have a fabulous park in my garden which only my children may use. Do you have one too? oh well, it's not my fault your children have nowhere to play, you shoud have factored in the cost of a full scale playground before you had any children.
lady muck
Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 08:55 PMHow has £74,275 been spent ?...surely not all in storage charges ? The council subsidy of about £50,000 would be better spent on the sick, disabled, infirm etc.
SteveWonder
Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 07:13 PMOK you rightwing reactionary dyed in the wool tory lot...... look into the eyes of all of those children in the photo and say out loud "I am taking away these toys, stop crying and learn to look after yourselves quick, because our government has no morals and thats the way we like them"
SteveWonder
Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 07:02 PMcharge £8 per hire? obviously meant as a joke but because nobody laughed we got it printed out again and again.
SteveWonder
Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 06:58 PM............."This country lacks community"............. WHAT AN ASTONISHING COMMENT TO COME FROM THIS PARTICULAR PERSON.
dazmondo
Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 06:43 PMWhat a lot of negative comments. I for one think it is great that a bunch of people are trying to do some good by saving a valuable service. Some comments on here seem to suggest that it is only those on benefits who use the toy library. My family use the toy library and we are not on benefits and I pay taxes just like everyone else. The biggest overhead the toy library has is rent for storage. Maybe they should make use of one of the numerous empty council buildings dotted around the county. Another solution would be to simply charge more as has already been mentioned. I for one would be willing to pay more to keep this service.
lady muck
Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 04:14 PMApart from the needs of disabled children, I would argue that this is not an essential service, but if it is so essential, parents should hold back on starting families until they can afford to feed and clothe them and pay for their amusements.
TheCount
Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 12:40 PMMoustache - I can kind of agree with that but it's not the councils job to provide toys to children. If a community group want to do it for free then that would be great. This country lacks community, they seem to think taxing one group to give someone else something for nothing is what it is all about.
Common sense
Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 12:07 PMMove the Toy Library service into Book Libraries and charge £8 per hire or whatever to cover the associated costs.
Rosemary50
Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 11:47 AMMoustache. Volunteers are difficult to find, they are meant to be opening up Libraries on a Sunday but have not come forward. Staff are now being paid time and a half to open up from April.. A Manager will now receive over £20.00 an hour on Sunday for a service very few want! How convenient that the Council is closing the toy library, at the same time as libraries are to open on a Sunday, maybe the REAL reason for closure is to cover the extra cost! What strange priorities NCC have.
Moustache
Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 11:42 AM@TheCount: "perhaps it could go along the route of other library services and be run by volunteers to help cut the running costs" along with Common Sense's solution to increase charges could turn into a profitable service and still benefit all the children in the county - including those with "real" tax payers as parents.
TheCount
Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 11:05 AMMoustache - send them down the landfill\tip to get the 2nd toys and save us the costs. ". It would be a shame for the people that use it to lose such a great resource" it would be a much greater shame for the hard pressed real tax payers to not be able to afford to eat.
Moustache
Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 10:56 AMThi service is a good way of reusingrecycling plastic that would otherwise end up as more landfill. It is used by schools, children's centres, childminders, foster parents who have different aged children for short amounts of time, and they have lots of specialist equipment and toys for children with disabilities. It would be a shame for the people that use it to lose such a great resource; perhaps it could go along the route of other library services and be run by volunteers to help cut the running costs.
Common sense
Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 10:30 AMEasy solution--charge £8 per hire and that would raise £62,808 and cover the running costs
TheCount
Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 10:07 AMDuncan Roomyhatchback Duncan - would that be their £26,000 un-taxed benefits per year ?
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