By Violet Li
Cranbourne Toy Library has been closed permanently after the Casey Council shut down its venue at Casey Administration Building in July.
The non-profit organisation posted the news on its Facebook on 15 July.
“Unfortunately, the City of Casey is going to be getting rid of the building where we had currently been operating from,” it stated.
“We have also been unsuccessful in finding a replacement venue to move to, so the decision was made to close the Cranbourne Toy Library.”
Casey Administration Building has been assessed as an “end-of-life” asset by the Council, which is currently preparing for the building’s future closure.
When contacted, City of Casey Manager City and Asset Planning Keri New said: “When Council officers liaised with the Toy Library committee to discuss relocation options, it became apparent that the service was struggling to recruit volunteers and maintain a healthy membership base, both needed to operate a viable Toy Library.
“The Toy Library committee indicated to the Council that they were planning to relocate their donated resources and operate from an alternative site of their own selection.
“However, after further consideration, they elected to disband the committee and cease operating.
“Their constitution requires donated resources be relinquished to Council, and these are currently being reallocated to community playgroups, to support the development and wellbeing of children and their families throughout the municipality.”
Cranbourne Toy Library committee was formerly run by Balla Balla Community Centre, and since taken over by disability service Blairlogie Living and Learning in 2018.
Blairlogie was contacted by Star News but declined to comment.
Cranbourne Toy Library was operated by volunteers who opened the venue for one and a half hours, two times a week on Tuesday and Thursday.
According to its own Facebook posts before the closure in July, they frequently cancelled opening the library due to a lack of volunteers.
Blairlogie’s annual reports in 2023, 2021, and 2019 show the service’s client volunteers helped to run the toy library.
