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What is a Toy Library? A toy library is a lending library that works just like a book library, only instead of borrowing a book you borrow a toy. More information on toy libraries can be found on our Toy Library History page.
Who is Eligible? FLTL will offer membership to all families, caregivers, and organizations that work with children in the Finger Lakes region surrounding Ithaca, NY. While a majority of our toys are suitable for children between the ages of 0-7, our collection of toys for older children is growing every day, and our board game and puzzle collection has something for the whole family. We hope to increase our collections in the future, including having selections specifically for children with special needs.
How do I become a member? More information regarding membership can be found here: Membership.
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How does it work? Community members are welcome to come browse our collection of toys in-person or online. Members can choose a maximum of three toys per family/caregiver, or one per child, whichever is greater, PLUS one game or puzzle for caregivers, and borrow them for up to four weeks. After the loan period, they can exchange them for new toys, or renew them for one additional loan period. Borrowing limits for groups and organizations depend upon the size of our current collection.
Where are you located? We are located in The Shops at Ithaca Mall, Space D07, 40 Catherwood Road, Ithaca, NY, 14850. We are in the space previously occupied by The Cornell Store, located between Regal Cinemas and Target.
When will you be open? Please see our Fall 2021 hours on our home page!
How can I donate my used toys to the library? We are accept donations of excellent condition used toys, as well as newly purchased toys, which would be best purchased at one of several local toy stores in order to support our local economy. We do not accept toys based on television or movie characters, battery-operated toys, books or stuffed animals. What we would love: include high-quality, environmentally-friendly, gender-neutral, educational, and/or non-media based toys, and especially toys that encourage open-ended, creative and imaginative play. Toy library collections also include things like board games, musical instruments and costumes, so please consider donating them as well. If you are unsure about whether your toys are suitable for the toy library collection please email info@fingerlakestoylibrary.org, we are more than happy to answer any questions! Thank you!
Why start a toy library? Play is increasingly being shown to be invaluable to the development and education of children, especially during early childhood. Toys, the tools of that play, are not always easy to come by, especially the variety of toys that will best stimulate a growing child. Toys, especially high-quality ones, can be cost-prohibitive. They may take up a lot of space, cluttering our homes. When our children are done with them, it takes time and energy to find them new homes. A collection that we all share can help simplify our lives and bring us more joy. A toy library instills a deep understanding of sharing culture into children from a young age, and they learn what it really means to share. There are many great reasons to start a toy library. Please contact us for more information about why we are opening a toy library and come back to our website often for updates and additions. See our Benefits of Membership in a Toy Library list on our Toy Library History page.
Do you need help? Yes! Running a nonprofit organization takes a lot of work, and we mostly volunteer and board operated. If you have the time and interest in helping us, please contact us to find out more information. We currently need fundraisers, open hours volunteers and toy cleaners. If you are a website designer, event planner, accountant, lawyer, toy-maker, interested in donating your services and/or products, we'd love to hear from you. If you are interested in becoming a board member, please contact us to discuss the possibility.
Is my donation tax-deductible? Yes, we are a federally approved 501(c)(3) charity founded for both charitable and educational purposes, and all donations will be tax-deductible by law.
How do I donate money? Checks can be made out to Finger Lakes Toy Library, Inc. and mailed to: PO Box 6769, Ithaca, NY, 14851. Donations can also be made via Paypal.
What items do you need? We are looking to change out our counter area to include a larger/double sink. If you have a cabinet section, counter top, or double sink in good condition we would love to have it! If you would like to help with any of these acquisitions, please contact us.
How can I contact you? You can reach our Board President Debra Lewis at debra.lewis@fingerlakestoylibrary.org. Our Interim Director of Operations Kelly Sauve can be reached at kelly.sauve@fingerlakestoylibrary.org. Please do not hesitate to share your voice with us, we want to hear your thoughts and questions!
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Who are you? We are a small but mighty group of parents: child-care professionals, educators, entrepreneurs, and visionaries in the avenues of play. Come join us, and let’s have some fun together! For more information, please see the Who We Are section.
To learn more about toy libraries visit the International Toy Library Association Website at:
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What is a Toy Library? A toy library is a lending library that works just like a book library, only instead of borrowing a book you borrow a toy. More information on toy libraries can be found on our Toy Library History page.
Who is Eligible? FLTL will offer membership to all families, caregivers, and organizations that work with children in the Finger Lakes region surrounding Ithaca, NY. While a majority of our toys are suitable for children between the ages of 0-7, our collection of toys for older children is growing every day, and our board game and puzzle collection has something for the whole family. We hope to increase our collections in the future, including having selections specifically for children with special needs.
How do I become a member? More information regarding membership can be found here: Membership.
-
How does it work? Community members are welcome to come browse our collection of toys in-person or online. Members can choose a maximum of three toys per family/caregiver, or one per child, whichever is greater, PLUS one game or puzzle for caregivers, and borrow them for up to four weeks. After the loan period, they can exchange them for new toys, or renew them for one additional loan period. Borrowing limits for groups and organizations depend upon the size of our current collection.
Where are you located? We are located in The Shops at Ithaca Mall, Space D07, 40 Catherwood Road, Ithaca, NY, 14850. We are in the space previously occupied by The Cornell Store, located between Regal Cinemas and Target.
When will you be open? Please see our Fall 2021 hours on our home page!
How can I donate my used toys to the library? We are accept donations of excellent condition used toys, as well as newly purchased toys, which would be best purchased at one of several local toy stores in order to support our local economy. We do not accept toys based on television or movie characters, battery-operated toys, books or stuffed animals. What we would love: include high-quality, environmentally-friendly, gender-neutral, educational, and/or non-media based toys, and especially toys that encourage open-ended, creative and imaginative play. Toy library collections also include things like board games, musical instruments and costumes, so please consider donating them as well. If you are unsure about whether your toys are suitable for the toy library collection please email info@fingerlakestoylibrary.org, we are more than happy to answer any questions! Thank you!
Why start a toy library? Play is increasingly being shown to be invaluable to the development and education of children, especially during early childhood. Toys, the tools of that play, are not always easy to come by, especially the variety of toys that will best stimulate a growing child. Toys, especially high-quality ones, can be cost-prohibitive. They may take up a lot of space, cluttering our homes. When our children are done with them, it takes time and energy to find them new homes. A collection that we all share can help simplify our lives and bring us more joy. A toy library instills a deep understanding of sharing culture into children from a young age, and they learn what it really means to share. There are many great reasons to start a toy library. Please contact us for more information about why we are opening a toy library and come back to our website often for updates and additions. See our Benefits of Membership in a Toy Library list on our Toy Library History page.
Do you need help? Yes! Running a nonprofit organization takes a lot of work, and we mostly volunteer and board operated. If you have the time and interest in helping us, please contact us to find out more information. We currently need fundraisers, open hours volunteers and toy cleaners. If you are a website designer, event planner, accountant, lawyer, toy-maker, interested in donating your services and/or products, we'd love to hear from you. If you are interested in becoming a board member, please contact us to discuss the possibility.
Is my donation tax-deductible? Yes, we are a federally approved 501(c)(3) charity founded for both charitable and educational purposes, and all donations will be tax-deductible by law.
How do I donate money? Checks can be made out to Finger Lakes Toy Library, Inc. and mailed to: PO Box 6769, Ithaca, NY, 14851. Donations can also be made via Paypal.
What items do you need? We are looking to change out our counter area to include a larger/double sink. If you have a cabinet section, counter top, or double sink in good condition we would love to have it! If you would like to help with any of these acquisitions, please contact us.
How can I contact you? You can reach our Board President Debra Lewis at debra.lewis@fingerlakestoylibrary.org. Our Interim Director of Operations Kelly Sauve can be reached at kelly.sauve@fingerlakestoylibrary.org. Please do not hesitate to share your voice with us, we want to hear your thoughts and questions!
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Who are you? We are a small but mighty group of parents: child-care professionals, educators, entrepreneurs, and visionaries in the avenues of play. Come join us, and let’s have some fun together! For more information, please see the Who We Are section.