News

We''re moving!

We''re moving!

15-12-2024

After many years of hard slog at far less than ideal locations, we are moving to a new premises, reopening with a celebration 1-4pm on Sunday 16 February at Cornerstone 999 Goulds Road. To say we are excited and relieved is an understatement! Check out the details below and respond to the Grand Reopening event.

The Reopening - How, When, What?

  • Come to our reopening celebration 1-4pm Sunday 16 February 2025 at 999 Goulds Road. Enter our competition on social media to be the amongst the first in to choose toys.
  •  We''ll reopen as a standard toy library with no reservations or click and collect - first in first served. Bring the kids! The exception will be the two party packs (tables and chairs) and two car coasters - to ensure people can reserve these items for birthday parties. 
  • Same opening hours of Sunday 2-4pm, with plans to open during the week too. 
  • Toys will still be loaned for a period of two weeks and the lending limit will still be four items.
  • Parking is available on site, which is close to the location of the new shipping containers.
  • Memberships have been extended by one month to reflect the additional summer close down period.

Change to Summer hours

18-09-2023

In case it isn''t on your radar, daylight savings starts this weekend.  In addition to checking your smoke alarm batteries, please note that as of this Sunday 24th September, we will change to operate our toy collection/drop-off from 3pm - 5pm.  These summer hours allow our committee members and volunteers to work at our non-powered containers in the (hopefully) cool of the afternoon and to avoid the mid-day sun.
 
While we have your attention, we are always looking for more volunteers to assist with our duties.  If you think you could help, please get in contact or have a look at our volunteer page on Facebook.  Each duty comes with the added benefit of having your membership extended by two weeks. 

Summer closure

Summer closure

28-11-2022

That time of year is fast approaching! You may have seen in the booking system that our last day for toy return is Sunday 18 December, reopening for pick ups on Sunday 15 January 2023.

We hope you all get the chance to enjoy some summer sun and relaxation with your whānau.

2022 AGM

06-04-2022

An open invitation to all toy library members and members of the community who would like to join us for our AGM.
Tuesday 3rd May
7.30 pm
Generation House Rolleston
 
Come along and meet the committee and find outmore about how the library is run. 

 

Please confirm your attendance by selecting ‘going’ on our Facebook event so we can be sure our booked area is big enough for everyone

Winter Hours

27-03-2022

We will be changing our sessions to winter hours (Sundays 2-4pm) starting Sunday 3rd April.

 

Pre-Loved Children''s Clothing Sale 26th March 2022

08-03-2022

The Rolleston Toy Library''s next fundraiser is a 2nd Hand Children''s Clothing Sale.
 
Items will be $1 each (except for a premium section where prices will be labelled) and payment will be by bank transfer at the time of purchase.
There will also be some second hand toys for sale as well.
 
We are also calling for clothing donations - hopefully this will help you with removing some of the endless kid clutter from your home! Please contact us through messenger or at rollestontoylibary@gmail.com to organise making a donation.

For full details of the day, please see our facebook event 

We look forward seeing you there.

Christmas closure

08-12-2021

The Rolleston Toy Library willbe closed from 16th December 2021 and reopening 16th January 2022. We wish everyone a safe and happy holiday and we will see youin the new year.

2021 AGM

24-04-2021

An open invitation to all toy library members and members of the community who would like to join us for our AGM.
Tuesday 11 May 
7.30 pm
Cafe Izone, Rolleston
Come along and buy yourself a coffee, wine and/or sweet treat at Cafe Izone in Rolleston.
 
Please confirm your attendance by selecting ‘going’ on our Facebook event so we can be sure our booked area is big enough for everyone
AGM 2021

At Capacity!

21-04-2021

Tēnā tātou Rolleston community.
After opening Rolleston Toy Library in January 2020, an online service to the young families of the community, we have now grown to capacity and are unable to accept any new memberships at this time. Our toy stock has grown to around 450 toys and we are quickly running out of space in our shipping containers to accommodate any more toys. With close to 90 members and, due to the online nature of our service, the committee now feels further growth is unsustainable.
We invite people to continue to apply for memberships and it is our intention to operate a waitlist system moving forward. If current members choose not to renew their memberships, we will contact those listed on the waitlist to see if they wish to proceed with their membership request.
 
Our service is clearly in demand as we receive almost daily membership applications. However, until we either find a bigger space to continue our online operations from, or find a suitable permanent home from which to operate a standard toy library, we will be unable to grant access to a greater number of members. Thank you to those who have provided leads for us to follow up regarding potential premises. We continue to explore all possibilities and would welcome any further suggestions or offers of potential new homes.
 
We are also in need of new committee members to fill vacancies and support us to continue offering this service to our community. If you, or anyone you know, may be interested in joining our committee, please contact us at rollestontoylibrary@gmail.com
We’d like to take this opportunity to offer a huge thank you to our members, volunteers and all of our other supporters in the community.
 
Ngā mihi nui

New Home Found

04-12-2020

After a massive effort from our Committee this weekend, we''re glad to say that we''ve completed the move into our new temporary storage site - a huge thank you to the kind folks in our community who lent assistance and loaned trailers!
This new site is located in two shipping containers on a Council-owned section at 83 Detroit Drive in the Izone Industrial Park. There''s a bit more work still to do to get everything squared away in an orderly fashion, but at least the hard yards have been done.
 
Members, please keep an eye on your email inboxes over the next couple of days, as now that we have a much better idea of where we''re at, we''ll be sending out an update with full details, including a date for toy recall.
Thank you once again for your patience and understanding - having to urgently find a new home has been challenging, particularly as we are all volunteers, and also juggling work and family. But we''re relieved that we can move into the new year with the certainty of being able to operate again. We can''t wait to see you all again soon!

Stainless Steel Peg Fundraiser

03-09-2020

We''re excited to announce our brand new fundraiser - over September we''ll be selling fabulous stainless steel clothes pegs from Bento Ninja!
All money raised will go towards purchasing more toys for our growing membership.
 
Made of durable, marine grade stainless steel, these pegs will revolutionise your laundry - they won''t rust, or become brittle and break like plastic pegs, even if you leave them outside, meaning they''re better for your pocket as well as the environment. They also come in a handy reusable cotton bag, which can be easily repurposed. With Christmas approaching, these pegs would make the perfect sustainable gift.
 
Pack of 20
Options are:
🙌 Delicate - $20
🙌 Tough - $28
🙌 Coloured - $35 (Choice of Rainbow, Rose Gold or Black)
 
To place an order, please email us with the variety and quantity you''d like: rollestontoylibrary@gmail.com

Christmas Closure

06-08-2020

The last toy drop off day for the year will be 13 December 2020, and the first pick-up day of 2021 will be Sunday 17 January. We will be recalling all toys prior to the Christmas
break, to allow the team to carry out a stocktake before reopening.
Any reservations made over this time will be deleted. 
If you have any questions on this, please don''t hesitate to contact us by email: rollestontoylibrary@gmail.com

New Trial Pick up/ Drop off Location for JULY 2020!

02-07-2020

As you will be aware, we have so far been unsuccessful in finding a permanent location to operate our Toy Library from and the weather has been less than pleasant over the last few weeks.
We really appreciate you sticking with us and still braving the weather to hire toys on a regular basis.
In saying that, our amazing friends at Storage King Rolleston have very generously allowed us to use their office for our toy pick ups and drop offs on a Sunday as a trial for the month of July.
***This is effective immediately and starting this Sunday 5th July***
Members - please check your emails for further details, including important health & safety information.
New pick up / drop off location effective immediately:
Storage King Rolleston
55 Link Drive
Izone Business Park (off Hoskyns Road)
Sunday 2-3pm

New Toys!

09-06-2020

We are very excited to have purchased a whole bunch of new toys thanks to a grant from the Rata Foundation! 

Keep an eye on the website for these new arrivals - we have a range of dress ups, baby toys, indoor climbing centres, and games - perfect for winter! 

The committee are busy labeling, boxing and engraving and we will have these toys available for reservation as soon as possible.

2020 Annual General Meeting

27-05-2020

We will be holding the Annual General Meeting for the Rolleston Toy Library on Tuesday 23rd June at Cafe Izone.  There is an open invitation to anyone who would like to join us for our AGM. Come along for a coffee, wine and/or sweet treat at Cafe Izone in Rolleston.  To register your attendance please see our Facebook Event.

It would be great to see some of our members there. 

Re Opening 31 May 2020

16-05-2020

Woohoo, welcome to Alert Level 2! We are very glad to be able to tell you that the Rolleston Toy Library will be reopening soon, with the first toy collection day at 2-3pm on Sunday 31 May! (Note the change of time due to Winter hours.)
In accordance with Government guidelines, there will be some new processes and precautions in place, the details of which have been sent to members via email. In short, we''''ll be ensuring that physical distancing, strict hygiene, and contact tracing measures are all taken during our pick up and drop off sessions, to safeguard the health and well-being of both members and volunteers.
Thank you for your patience and cooperation during this time; we can''''t wait to see you again soon! If you have any questions or concerns in the meantime, please don''''t hesitate to contact us: rollestontoylibrary@gmail.com

Temporary Closure Due to Covid 19

19-03-2020

UPDATE // Temporary suspension of services
In light of new restrictions on public gatherings announced today and the fact that this is a rapidly evolving situation, we have decided that the responsible thing to do to help keep our families and communities safe is to temporarily suspend our operations for at least the next six weeks.
This means that our Sunday afternoon pick up/drop off sessions will cease, and reservations over that period will be cancelled. We will review this suspension at the end of April and inform members of the outcome at that time, but in the meantime, will extend all six- or twelve-month memberships to ensure that no one is disadvantaged by this closure.
We would ask that all toys currently out on loan please be returned at our regular drop off point at the Community Centre this Sunday (22 March) between 3.00-4.00pm. If you are unable to make this time, please get in touch with us as soon as possible to arrange an alternative. Furthermore, if anyone in your household has been experiencing cold or flu-like symptoms, or returned from overseas in the past two weeks, please contact us to arrange safe return of your toys.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Thank you for your support and understanding; like everyone we look forward to a return to normality soon!

Opening Day

07-02-2020

Phew, what a day - and we don''t just mean the heat! 🥵 We are absolutely thrilled to have completed our very first toy collection day at the Rolleston Community Centre , which of course means that we are now fully operational!! 🥳
This is the culmination of nearly two years of planning, fundraising, and sheer hard work by a small team of dedicated volunteers, as well as some incredible support from local businesses and community funders. Massive shout-outs to Storage King Rolleston, whose generous donation of two storage units and use of a delivery truck meant we could forge ahead with our innovative online library, as well as Pub Charity Limited, Rātā Foundation and many, many others along the way, not least of which includes our wonderful new members 🙏
We couldn’t be happier to see the dream finally become a reality, and can’t wait to see all these fabulous toys being enjoyed by our local Rolleston families! ☺️

Opening Date is Set!!

25-11-2019

We are thrilled to announce that we have an opening date!! 🤩

The Rolleston Toy Library will officially open as New Zealand’s first purely online-based toy library from 6 January 2020. From this date, members will be able to view and reserve toys on our website, with the first toy collection date being 2 February.

What this also means is that you can now start signing up and purchasing memberships. The team have been working incredibly hard over the past few months to source, catalogue, and package some amazing toys that we know our local families are going to love - we can’t wait to share them with you!

Of course, none of this would be possible without the wonderful support of our sponsors and funders, especially Storage King Rolleston, who have generously donated the use of two units to house our toy collection while we find our feet. Special thanks also to the Selwyn District Council, Pub Charity Limited, and Rātā Foundation for the grants that have made it possible to purchase everything we need to get up and running, as well as everyone else who has given us a helping hand along the way.

Online Toy Library

13-09-2019

While we still hunt for permanent premises to operate from, we are looking forward to opening an online toy library to service our local Rolleston families. We are working hard behind the scenes to get our Toy Library open before the end of the year. Please follow our Facebook page for updates.