How about joining a library for your six-month-old? Although toy libraries are common in the West, the concept is relatively new in India. At Chinchwadgaon in Pune, 54-year-old Shashikala Subhash Surana, a life insurance agent, has been running a toy library in the neighbourhood.
In London, the government runs such libraries which are free for children, but they are not found here . Shashikala offers four types of memberships ranging from Rs450 to Rs1,500 per quarter.
The toy library took its baby step in July 2009 and attracted many parents. The library has toys and puzzles for babies, constructive games and fun-and-learn games for older kids. Care has been taken to ensure that the materials used are safe and non-toxic. In all, there are 415 games, 250 books, and 150 CDs.
Members are allowed to take materials worth the amount of their membership and return them after eight days.
In case the child loses a small part of a game, the parents are asked to pay only for the lost bit. If a major part is lost and the game cannot be played further, an appropriate amount is recovered.
Source | http://www.dnaindia.com/
Courtesy: Pralhad Jadhav
Toy Libraries are making in roads in every day life in Pune, though they are not growing rapidly as yet. We started a toy library, Toyshare (www.toyshare.in) in April 2011 and are the first online toy library in Pune. As toy libraries do not exist in all areas, we hope to provide our service anywhere in Pune. We make life easier with home delivery and pickup. Looking forward to feedback from Mrs.Shashikala too on how to make toy libraries acceptable to everyone
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