The Toy Lending Library opened in July 2020 and is an ongoing, permanent addition to the services and programs offered by the HPL Children’s Room and HPL more generally. To date, it is already a tremendous success, providing at-home, hands-on learning educational resources for children and their families.
The Oakland Public Library (OPL) Toy Lending Library began in 2014 as a pilot funded by a Pacific Library Partnership Innovations & Technology grant. The program involved more than 30 sets of toys at each of the four pilot locations: the main library, Elmhurst, César Chávez and West Oakland library branches. Since then, the collection has expanded to the Melrose and Rockridge branches as well, for a total of six sites.
