Joujoutheque Chelsea Toy Library

A project originally conceived by a committee of ACRE in 2004, the Chelsea Toy Library promoted the principle of reducing our environmental footprint by sharing rather than owning toys for many years.

The benefits of this were several: parents could borrow, instead of buy; toys were given "nine lives", and contributions to landfill were reduced. The library's purchasing policy also emphasized wooden materials and non-electronic toys.

An expanding collection of quality, new and gently used toys catered to almost 100 member families, many of whom socialized informally through their interest in the library and its associated Friday morning drop-in playgroup.

The Toy Library was run entirely by volunteers and relied on community members to maintain its numerous functions. These included toy acquisition and maintenance, fundraising, finances, and community liaison.

In 2023, the Toy Library was amalgamated into the Chelsea Municipality Library for multiple reasons. Various parts of the collection are now available to loan through the Chelsea Library.

Toy library Facebook page