Newsletter nº 3 (2012)
Istanbul 2012
Having in mind that it is crucial for ETL’s members to meet every year, Turkey
hosted the 16th meeting, held in the 19th and 20th of April, in the facilities of
Marmara University.
It was with great satisfaction that the members recognized that ETL is now a
stable group with the same people/organization coming each year, what gives
an important contribute for the continuity of work.
The meeting was attended by the following participants:
Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Ro-
mania, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey.
6500 Toy Libraries in Europe
UPDATES ON EUROPEAN FACTS & FIGURES
Austria: 50 TL
Belgium (Flemish): 90 TL
Belgium (French): 120 TL
Croatia: 18 TL
Cyprus: 6 TL
Denmark: 40 TL
France: 1200 TL
Germany: 100 TL
Great Britain: 1000 TL
Greece: 4 TL
Hungary: 8 TL
Italy: 1000 TL
Lithuania: 108 TL
Netherlands: 300-400 TL
Portugal: 750 TL
Romania: 150 TL
Spain: 600 TL
Switzerland: 380 TL
Sweden : 200 TL
Turkey: 9 TL
THE PURPOSES OF ETL ARE:
To disseminate the concept of
toy libraries as a means of
bringing play and play mate-
rials to people.
To serve as a link between
national toy library organiza-
tions, providing opportunities
for international exchange of
ideas and materials.
To maintain a liaison with
other organizations and asso-
ciations pertaining to devel-
opmental and social issues,
health, education and play.
To organize common presen-
tations at international events
such as the International
Conferences organized by the
International Toy Library
Association.
To cooperate with organiza-
tions having similar goals.
Each country presented its annual report, which made clear that the financial
crisis has also deep impact on the functionment and funding of toy libraries all
across Europe. Nevertheless, several activities have been carried out in all
countries with the aim to promote Toy Libraries' recognition and to defend the
Right to Play, namely the dissemination of the celebration of World Play Day in
the majority of the countries and several symposiums, conferences and exhibi-
tions regarding Play and Toy Libraries.
Group present at the meeting in Istanbul, 2012
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ETL MEETING—ISTANBUL, APRIL 2012
WORKING STANDARDS
The working standards, worked out in Lisbon and Brussels, were accepted by the dif-
ferent countries.
ETL will release it as part of the global “Documentation for Toy Libraries” that will
have the following contents:
ETL history
Working standards
Different charters of quality
Different standards for toy libraries
All website addresses of the participating countries
ETL’s Newsletters
This documentation is now inexistent in Europe and will respond to a gap that most
countries feel regarding access to reference documents in the area of toy libraries.
Some members highlighted that the wording “toy library” is being incorrectly used
by institutions that have another purposes (namely commercial intents regarding
play). So it was suggested to revise ETL’s definition of toy library, what was agreed
by all members. The definition should now be read as follows:
Toy libraries provide resources for play, including toys, games, trained staff and
dedicated space on a non-commercial basis.
ETL’S DEFINITION OF A TOY LIBRARY
ETL will release the “Documentation for Toy Libraries” that sums up the group’s work and will provide reference documents about toy libraries
3
ETL’S STRUCTURE AND FUTURE WORK
ETL’s members were divided in three groups to discuss ETL’s structure and fu-
ture work. Each one of the questions below was firstly worked by a small group
and then analyzed by the entire ETL’s group.
1. Does ETL want to be an Association or a group?
For the time being, ETL will stay as an informal group. This issue was already
discussed in previous meetings and the “formal” aspects of being an association
were highlighted as they probably would imply a change in ETL’s current situa-
tion: today we are a working group that can focus on technical issues and that
doesn’t spend time on formal aspects. This discussion will be resumed in upcom-
ing meetings.
2. Who can be a member of ETL?
A member’s profile was drawn as follows:
Members are National Associations of Toy Libraries or similar (no individual
members);
Members must live in a European country and speak English fluently;
The decision of accepting the membership is of the entire responsibility of
ETL (no automatic memberships). A membership form will be created.
ETL will stay an informal group and focus on technical issues, as it has been until now.
3. What are the tasks of ETL?
All the tasks below are crucial contributes to strengthen the European Toy Li-
brary Movement:
to inform each other, the group, Europe and policy makers;
to be informed of the ITLA decisions, of important European or world topics
with influence on Toy Libraries’ work;
to represent European Toy Libraries (establish contacts with policy makers
and have a strong European representative in ITLA);
to influence local Toy Libraries’ policy;
to reflect national and international policies.
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GETTING TO KNOW ISTANBUL...
NEXT MEETING:
Date: April 19th –20th 2013
Place: Denmark
© Child Support Institute, 2012
The organizers of this year’s meeting welcomed the participants with a concert in
Marmara University facilities and prepared a series of activities to get to know
Turkish culture and arts.
The first visit was the Istanbul Toy Museum, with a collection of over 4,000 toys
from around the world. A very well designed space where workshops for children
and families are carried out.
In the last day of the meeting, the members participated in an Ebru Workshop, a
traditional Turkish art that ETL members could experience with the help of a
professor from Marmara University. There were also a visit to the Karagöz Tradi-
tional Turkish Shadow Puppet Theatre where ETL’s members saw a play and
were able to talk to its the creator.
ETL HISTORY AND MEMBERS
ETL will continue working to strengthen the European Toy Library Movement
The Group of European Toy Libraries (ETL) was founded in 1996 during
the 7th International Conference on Toy Libraries in Zurich (Switzerland).
ETL is committed to the beliefs that play, playthings and playful interac-
tion are essential to optimal education, physical, psychological, social and
cultural development.
It has as current members the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Croa-
tia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Cyprus,
Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Rus-
sia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey.
ETL is a section of the International Toy Libraries Association of (ITLA)
and works in close co-operation with ITLA.
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