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Burnside Toy Library has won two prestigious awards out of more than 380 toy libraries across Australia.

There are calls for more toy libraries to be established across South Australia, as demand soars from families seeking to save money and be more environmentally sustainable.

An Adelaide toy library that helps parents save money while bringing joy to their children has won national acclaim, with calls for more toy libraries to be established by councils across South Australia.

Burnside Toy Library has been recognised by peak body Toy Libraries Australia for its contribution to the local community, helping families connect and learn through play.

Burnside’s Heather Wright also won Toy Librarian of the Year for her outstanding contribution, including revitalising the toy collection and working with volunteers to make the toy library a valuable and much-loved part of the local area.

Heather has also been integral to promoting toy libraries across South Australia and said she hoped other councils would look to establish or grow their own toy libraries. Toy libraries across Australia have seen demand for their services soar since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Having the support of our local council has been key to our success,” said Heather. “After becoming part of the council’s services, Burnside Toy Library went from being open 10 hours a week to almost 60 hours a week, and we’ve been able to invest in larger toys.

“Every library should have a toy library, even if it’s just a small collection. I would love to see more councils supporting toy libraries across South Australia.”

Established 30 years ago, Burnside Toy Library is now one of the biggest toy libraries in Australia in terms of membership with about 1500 members.

It has won the Toy Library Excellence award, in recognition of its recent project to support the community by buying skateboards, extra scooters and balance bikes to ensure that every local child could enjoy the council’s ‘pop up’ skateboard park and outdoor play.

Louise Bell, Development Officer at Toy Libraries Australia, said Burnside Toy Library was a leading example of the role toy libraries can play in promoting children’s development and community connections.

“We’re proud to be recognising Heather and the Burnside Toy Library for their dedication to making play accessible for all children and to sharing the benefits of toy libraries across the state,” she said.

“Toy libraries are an affordable and sustainable way for parents and carers to support a child’s development, while also creating important community meeting places. It’s no surprise that toy libraries across the country are booming as more families turn to borrowing toys to save money, reduce waste and reconnect with their communities after COVID-19.”

Memberships at Australia’s 380-plus toy libraries have surged over the past two years, with over 130,000 families nationally using a toy library every year. Some, like Burnside, are run by local councils while others are run by volunteers.

Toy libraries across Australia own toys worth $28 million, many of which are high-value sensory and active toys that would otherwise be too expensive or impractical for families to own themselves. That equates to $640 worth of toys for every family belonging to a toy library, with most memberships costing less than $2 a week. On average, a child gets bored of a toy within 36 days, which is why over half (51 per cent) the toys bought in Australia end up in landfill within a year.

Heather said she was proud to have played a role in supporting Adelaide families through Burnside Toy Library and hoped to see toy libraries grow in the future.

“I applied for the coordinator role, not really knowing what a toy library was. That was 15 years ago now and I haven’t looked back since,” she said.

“The best part of being a toy librarian is choosing new toys and developing relationships with local families to share the benefits and joy of play. It’s an honour to be receiving this award and it’s one I share with the whole Burnside Toy Library community.”

About Toy Libraries Australia

Toy Libraries Australia is the peak body for over 260 toy libraries and are a non-profit incorporated association, supporting and promoting the benefits of toy libraries to communities, children’s development and family wellbeing.

Find out more https://www.toylibraries.org.au/

Please note that Burnside Library will be closed for the entirety of the Easter weekend, with the following hours:

Thursday 6 April: 9.30 am - 9 pm
Friday 7 April: CLOSED
Saturday 8 April: CLOSED
Sunday 9 April: CLOSED
Monday 10 April: CLOSED
Tuesday 11 April: 9.30 am - 6 pm

Thank you for your understanding during this time. The 24 hour return chute on Hyde Street will remain open for any returns required over the Easter weekend.

Mayor Anne Monceaux brings you the latest news from across the City of Burnside, including:

✅ City of Burnside named Tree City of the World for fourth consecutive year
✅ Magill Village Celebration this Sunday on Magill Road
✅ Final days to have your say on 40km/h consultation and submit Your Neighbourhood Budget ideas
✅ Know Your Council session with Dr Mark Ellis on Thursday 27 April
✅ And more!

Find out more about what's going on in the City of Burnside at www.engage.burnside.sa.gov.au

Have you visited Pepper Street Arts Centre recently? Built in 1882, the site was originally the Magill Village Primary School and accommodated 150 pupils. By 1924 the school was overcrowded and some classes were moved to the Brougham Street community hall. Two years later a new classroom was constructed on the corner of Penfold Road and Adelaide Street.

Junior students continued to attend classes in the 'old' school building until 1963. The site was then used by the Art Faculty of Wattle Park Teachers' College and later by Kent Town Special School. In 1988 the City of Burnside purchased the building and launched the Arts Centre in 1995.

This Sunday (2 April) Pepper Street Arts Centre is hosting a great range of free activities as part of the Magill Village Celebration event, including caricatures by Allan Addams, artist demonstrations and a parrot mobile making workshop. Find out more at www.facebook.com/events/537542135177734/

Photograph: Magill Primary School, circa 1900 - Burnside Library Local History Collection.

Following the damaging wind conditions that swept across the City of Burnside overnight on Sunday 19 March, it seems timely to reflect on a storm of similar severity that occurred in 2014, almost a decade ago!

Similarly to this week’s damaging weather, much of our city (including the Civic Centre) experienced prolonged blackouts during the 2014 storm. Over 800 Customer Requests were received and Council staff worked tirelessly to attend to these. On Monday 20 March 2023, a total of 434 calls were handled by our Customer Service team (a 141 per cent increase), including a total of 218 Customer Requests (a 230 per cent increase). Of this number, 150 Customer Requests were in relation to hazardous events which required an urgent response by Council. It is expected that many more Customer Requests will be received in the coming days.

As a result of the 2014 storm, Council invested in a generator that could be used if a similar event were to happen in the future. This generator was able to power part of the Civic Centre for the entire day on Monday 20 March, servicing the Customer Service, People Experience, Information Management, Information Technology and part of the Communications and Community Engagement teams to ensure the smooth running of Council business as well as allowing Council to keep the community updated on our website and social media. All field staff were out in the community attending to urgent matters.

Pictured is Hazelwood Park in the aftermath of the 2014 storm. Unfortunately, Hazelwood Park was also badly affected this week. Residents are advised to avoid visiting our parks and reserves until our crew is able to ensure they are safe to visit.

Following the damaging winds sustained across the City of Burnside on Monday 20 March there remains a significant amount of work for Council over the coming weeks. Because of this we would like to provide an update of the ongoing works and subsequent impact on some of our services.

The immediate actions undertaken in the past two days include the following:

• Field service teams have been deployed across the city to primarily scout all suburbs so that we have enhanced intelligence of priority areas. Where possible the teams are cleaning up and are logging further work such as tree work, tree inspections and additional clearing.
• Contractors and consultants have been engaged to support in the field and they are working/have worked on priority areas including the George Bolton Swimming Centre, Hazelwood Park, Kensington Gardens Reserve, main roads and Stonyfell, which has the highest concentration of mature trees.
• The Urban Forest team are continuing to triage tree assessments and are working on the most urgent areas first. This includes prioritizing large mature trees near schools and kindergartens.
• Playgrounds at Hazelwood Park and Knightsbridge Reserve have been closed for the week due to the proximity of nearby branches in the surrounding trees. The Tusmore Wading Pool remains closed due to the recent power outage, affecting sanitation capabilities, and the damaged fence.
• Large trees/logs that can be left safely will remain in place for at least two weeks while field teams work on clearing other debris and hazards.

CEO Chris Cowley said the majority of field team services have been placed on hold until at least Thursday 23 March while these urgent works are ongoing.

“Following the intense weather event we sustained on Monday we have had a significant amount of tree debris fall within our streets, parks and reserves,” Mr Cowley said.

“Our field teams have been hard at work to assess the damage and clear debris where possible, and this work takes precedent at the moment.

“I am so proud of every team at the City of Burnside for their tremendous work over the past few days to effectively deal with this situation.

“On Monday alone we received a 141 per cent increase in phone calls to our Customer Experience team, and a 230 per cent increase in customer requests.

“This was a small but destructive event, the scale of which has not been seen since the 2014 storms. I ask the community to take the utmost care and only access our local parks and reserves if absolutely necessary. Our teams are still undertaking risk assessments with a lot of ground to cover over the coming days, and we thank you for your patience as we continue to work diligently to clean up the remaining debris.”

The City of Burnside has contacted the Local Government Functional Support Group to request assistance from other Councils, with a request made for arboriculture field service teams that can clear and chip tree debris.

More information will be provided in the coming days on our website and social media pages and we thank the community for their patience and support during this time.

Mayor Anne Monceaux brings you the latest news from across the City of Burnside, including:

✅ Burnside Toy Library wins international award
✅ Harmony Week Concert on Tuesday 21 March
✅ 40km/h engagement continuing until Friday 31 March
✅ Magill Village community celebration event on Sunday 2 April
✅ And more!

Find out more about what's going on in the City of Burnside at engage.burnside.sa.gov.au

Please note the pump track at Newland Park will be temporarily closed on Tuesday 14 and Wednesday 15 March to make it even more fun! #rideburnside will be back on Thursday 16 March. Thank you for your patience during this time

With French grapevine cuttings in hand, Dr Christopher and Mary Penfold journeyed to Australia from England in 1844. The Penfolds purchased land in Makgill (now Magill) and lived in a small stone cottage known as the "Grange". Christopher planted the vines, initially using the wine to treat his medical patients. While her husband was working, Mary tended the vineyards.

The business grew in popularity and after Christopher’s death in 1870, Mary assumed total responsibility of the vineyards. Mary passed away in 1896, but her grandsons were determined to continue the company. Penfolds went on to become a leading Australian winery.

The Grange vineyard in Magill is smaller today, but the cottage, buildings and some of the vines remain as a reminder of its early history.

Photograph: Penfolds Estate 1908, Burnside Library Local History Collection