Ooranga Family Mobile Resource Unit (FMRU) based in Barber Street, Gunnedah is the toast of Australian Toy Libraries after being named ‘Large Toy Library of the Year 2023’, at the 16th International Toy Library Conference in Melbourne.
Ooranga FMRU was formed in 1979 when a group of interested parents met with the view of forming an organisation which could provide support and back up to small groups of isolated families and provide playgroup activities for their young children.
Toy Libraries Australia is the peak body for toy libraries within Australia with over 280 listed libraries as well as many more toy libraries that are not associated with them.
The committee is made up of a dedicated band of librarians or those with a long association with libraries, many who volunteer their time on the committee.
It was these committee members who took the time to read each nomination and lodge their vote for each award.
Ooranga’s Paula Jones was a committee member of the Toy Library Australia as the NSW representative from 2019-2021.
This year the Australian body hosted the triennial international conference in Melbourne from March 3 to March 7, 2023.
The conference was attended by delegates representing America, Asia, Africa, Europe and Oceania as well as Toy Libraries Australia members, coordinators and committee members from around Australia.
On Saturday, March 4 the annual Toy Libraries Australia awards night was held with over 70 nominations received across the seven categories.
Ooranga FMRU was nominated for Large Toy Library of the Year 2023 (libraries with member numbers over 100) and Community at Play Excellence Award.
Ooranga’s toy librarian Paula Jones was nominated for the Toy Librarian of the Year Award 2023.
There was great excitement as Ooranga was announced as Toy Library of the Year and Paula was announced as runner-up as Toy Librarian of the year.
Spring Ridge parent and committee member Rosemary Holland nominated Ooranga toy library saying: “Ooranga Toy Library reaches many more communities than just Gunnedah, where it is based.
“Through loans accessible via Ooranga playgroups, many small, isolated communities access the Toy Library’s amazing resources, without travelling many kilometres into Gunnedah.
“As children grow, the Toy Library grows with them and the range of toys available is excellent.
“The library in Gunnedah is a friendly, warming environment and you are always greeted with a smile when you enter.
“The toys are in excellent condition and promote play and learning in the homes they are in.
“The seven Ooranga pre-schools also have access to this service, which enhances the pre-school learning and encourages both sharing and looking after resources that aren’t ‘their own’.”
“It also allows variety and increased rotation in the resources, without the cost of continuously buying equipment for the children.
“Some of the pre-schools have 10 children or less, therefore an extensive Toy Library is an invaluable resource for the educators to use.”
Ooranga Pre-schools operate in Boggabri, Carroll, Curlewis, Currabubula, Mullaley, Premer and Spring Ridge and the playgroups operate in Blackville, Boggabri, Currabubula, Emerald Hill, Kelvin, Mullaley, Premer, Pine Ridge, Spring Ridge, Wallabadah and Willow Tree on a fortnightly schedule.
Librarian Paula explained that over the past four to five years, they have changed the way Ooranga connect with playgroups by opening borrowing to many members through reduced fees, increased the opportunity to borrow more regularly and members are given greater access to a wider range of items through the introduction of an online database.
Paula went on to say: “The award was real recognition of our toy library delivery service that we offer through our mobile playgroup service.
“Our 11 playgroups over three local government areas, with the playgroup van travelling around 1400km a fortnight.
“Our toy library is open Monday to Friday for residents of Gunnedah and surrounds to visit if they would like to experience the awesome array of resources.”
Paula has been the coordinator of the library since 2014.
In 2020, she moved across to join playgroup in addition to toy library and now she works across both services.
The announcement of Paula as runner-up in the prestigious ‘Toy Librarian of the Year Award’ was cause for the celebrations to start all over again.
Blackville parent, Eleanor Pengilley nominated Paula for the Toy Librarian of the Year 2023 Award saying: “Paula Jones has dedicated her work life to the role of toy library coordinator since 2014 more than doubling membership in that time, and building the high-quality service it is today.
“The Ooranga Toy Library services a geographic area covering three local government areas, with many of its users located remotely.
“Paula’s passion for facilitating play for children of diverse ages and abilities across this huge geographic area is shown through her recent work to introduce an online catalogue system, ensuring that it is accessible to all members regardless of time of day or geographic location.
“She also continues to work tirelessly to ensure that the library’s offerings are in good condition through stocktakes, and inclusive for all members across all developmental stages.
“In recent years, Paula has shown innovation and a true understanding of the community ensuring families who are based remotely are able to access this valuable service and its resources.
“Paula Jones is a valued member of the Ooranga team and a deserving candidate for this award.”
“It was a lovely surprise to receive the award and I’m blessed to work with a wonderful organisation with fantastic staff and Ooranga members,” Paula said.
“The delivery is a joint effort between playgroup and toy library and I would like to recognise Renee, Amber and Rebecca who assist me in ensuring we manage these deliveries to each playgroup service.
“Thanks also to Libby, our administration manager for many years of support and to the committee for allowing me the opportunity to travel this year to the conference”.
The International Toy Library Conference provided a wealth of information for those attending as well as an opportunity for other toy libraries to showcase their services.
Ooranga provided a PowerPoint presentation that ran through Saturday and Monday.
The display was titled ‘Taking the toy library to rural remote communities’.
It was one among six other displays that highlighted important work that toy libraries are doing around the world.
Paula said that the break-out sessions were interesting with sessions presented by South Africa, Japan, France, New Zealand, Spain, Bulgaria, Colombia, Malaysia and Australia covering all topics of early education, play, socialisation, wellness, recycling, sustainability and much more.
Over the course of the conference there were opportunities to visit small and large libraries such as the Little Buddies toy library, Point Cook which is one of the largest libraries in the country.
Spread across two branches with over 660 member families and over 3622 toys.
This library is a completely pack-away service, meaning it is packed into a small room at the end of each session. It is the largest in terms of member numbers not floor space.
The diversity in which toy libraries operate varies greatly from being run fully by volunteers to those with paid staff, in various locations including schools and community hubs, operating for only one small session a week to six days and being financially supported by memberships and fundraising through to those that are council run or government funded.
It is open to all Gunnedah and surrounding residents for a small annual membership fee.
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