Toy libraries are a growing Aussie beach trend, and we're here for it

These beachside innovations are not only putting smiles on tiny faces, they’re saving toys from landfills.

If you’ve ever packed for a family beach holiday – especially one in a destination you need to fly to – you’ll know three things to be fact: CoolCabanas are not overhead compartment-friendly; beach towels are space hogs; and it’s hard to justify buckets and bodyboards over other holiday essentials. Like that novel you still plan to read this summer.

I’ve developed a few new packing hacks since becoming a mum and not all of them revolve around snacks. I call my top hack “leave it at home”. When touching down in a new place, our family usually makes a beeline to the closest op-shop to pick up a few books and perhaps a small toy. When it comes to beach destinations, packing can be trickier (water-safety vests, goggles, wetsuits et al multiplied by number of kids equals a quick ticket to excess baggage charges). Alas, on an odyssey to the Ningaloo coast last year, our two under-fives ended up blissfully playing on the beaches of Cape Range National Park with two empty coffee cups and a discarded vitamin container. We also picked up a pool noodle at the op-shop, which we returned before our flight out.

This summer, we opted for a short break at one of our favourite Aussie beach towns, Sawtell, and this time we left everything at home on purpose. Sources on the ground had let us in on a little local secret. A new toy library had sprung up on the lawn in front of the surf club since our last visit, with a bunch of toys to take onto the sand. It’s one of many toy libraries I’ve discovered along our coastline during the past two years while researching my new book, Ultimate Beaches Australia (Hardie Grant, out May 2025), and I’ve got nothing but praise for the caring locals behind them.

Inspired by street libraries – 4500 registered in Australia – and similar toy library concepts in the US and UK, these beach toy libraries range from simple milk crates stuffed with buckets and spades to extensive collections with trucks, diggers and skim boards. On shores spanning First Bay in Coolum on the Sunshine Coast to the sleepy seaside town of Wooli in NSW, South Australia’s Henley Beach and Sisters Beach on Tasmania’s north coast, handy locals have hammered and nailed hardy structures to store donated beach toys, and encourage visitors to “Borrow, Play, Return”.

At Sisters Beach on Tasmania’s north coast, locals encourage visitors to “Borrow, Play, Return”. Picture: Celeste Mitchell.

The purpose is not just to help out frazzled families, but to encourage a circular economy and cut down on overconsumption of toys. Especially plastic ones that contribute to the degradation of the beaches they’re bought for.

According to Toy Libraries Australia, 51 per cent of toys are discarded within 12 months of purchase – part of the staggering 27 million toys thrown out each year in Australia. Clearly, there’s no need to buy new before hitting the sand.

On Victoria’s South Gippsland Coast you can even rent surfboards from the actual library – at Wonthaggi, Inverloch, Phillip Island and San Remo. Inverloch and Phillip Island libraries also offer stand-up paddleboards for loan.

At Sawtell Beach, a new toy library had sprung up on the lawn in front of the surf club since our last visit, with a bunch of toys to take onto the sand. Picture: Celeste Mitchell.

The trend isn’t restricted to those with kids. On dog beaches around the country, dog toy libraries are also popping up filled with sticks and balls. Locals have ball stocks well covered at Nobbys and Lighthouse beaches in Port Macquarie, at Ettalong on the NSW Central Coast, and at Stumers Creek in Coolum.

Like anything self-managed, responsible use is the only way to ensure these beach toy libraries endure and actually make a difference. Whether borrowing or just admiring the concept, we can all do our part to keep the library tidy and repair or remove broken bits to keep the next visitor – and the ocean – happy.

Originally published as Toy libraries are a growing Aussie beach trend, and we're here for it