2024-2025 Current Board
The board is entrusted to work on behalf of all Toy Libraries that are members of the TLFNZ.
Barbara Williman - Co-President:
Barbara's love of toy libraries started in 2013 when she joined Waimairi Toy Library. She was able to build on her passion for all things toy library when she took on the President role of Christchurch South Toy Library in 2017, at a time when they were facing closure due to lack of premises. In 2019 she joined TLFNZ to take her toy library journey further and support others. Barbara feels it is a privilege and honour to be elected as Co-President with Stacey - a role she has held since 2022. Together with the TLFNZ Board they have a shared vision of Thriving Toy Libraries and are excited about what they can do to support our community of amazing Toy Library Volunteers and Librarians. |
Stacey Stewart - Co-President:
Stacey joined Ashburton Toy Library 11 years ago after reading a newspaper article calling for committee members. Through her involvement in the Toy Library, she has made a "village" and many life long friends. Her other "job" is working alongside her husband, Mark, and brother in law TJ - running their dairy farm. It's nothing unusual to see her returning (very overdue) toys to the library in overalls and gumboots! |
Krissy Robinson - Toy Library Awareness Week Officer:
Krissy joined the Whitianga Toy Library as it was closing in 2021. After a committee change, everyone put in the hard yards to get the Toy Library back up and running. At the time Krissy had no children, but she did have a huge passion for play - including attending board game clubs. That passion pushed her to join the TLFNZ to help other toy libraries across NZ. In mid 2023 Krissy welcomed a little one of her own, and was excited to finally be able to start using her Toy Library membership! Her drive is still strong to make sure her son can play to his hearts content, and that no child is left without the same resources within her community. |
Merine Dumte - Health and Safety Officer:
Merine is originally from New Caledonia and had never heard of toy libraries before living in NZ. She joined her local Methven Toy Library when her 1st baby was 6 months old, in 2018, and hasn't looked back! Merine has made many friends through helping at fundraisers and then joining her local Toy Library committee as Chairperson in 2020 when the toy library was on the brink of closure. With her experience acquired through getting the toy library back on track, and her other skills grained in her role as a factory Production Manager, she decided to join the TLFNZ to help toy libraries on a bigger scale. Merine is thrilled to be part of a team of excellent people and helping toy libraries to thrive into the future. |
Ellen McSweeney - Treasurer:
Ellen joined the Bulls Toy Library in 2017 when they moved from Melbourne to New Zealand. She quickly became the treasurer, which provided inspiration to do an Accounting degree, and now Ellen works as an Accountant part time around her two children Maggie, 8, and Hamish, 6. Ellen's favourite part of being part of the toy library community are the connections she has made and the lifelong friendships gained. Not to mention the new career she has found thanks to the skills she learned through her Treasurer role. |
Rosie Cordy - Grants Officer:
Rosie's Toy Library journey began when she realised that there was no local toy library in her area (due to it being a fairly new suburb) and so she set about investigating the process of starting up a new Toy Library herself. She was the founding Chairperson of North West Toy Library for 5 years before looking to the next challenge. Being involved with the Board gives Rosie a chance to keep working to support Toy Libraries, while also learning more about being involved with governance at a national level. Having learnt a lot through trial and error in her own Toy Library, as well as through her 9-5 job, she now really enjoys supporting Toy Libraries to locate and access the funds, grants and sponsorship that are so crucial to keep us delivering the amazing service that we do. |