Our Story

The Minnesota Toy Library was launched in 2014 after two moms came together over an idea about toy sharing. A successful grant application to the Center for the New American Dream got the idea off the ground, and two more moms joined the team.

The toy library began as a mobile program, bringing toys to the free meeting rooms at libraries in the Minneapolis area. Soon the toy inventory grew and the group could no longer cart them to and from libraries.

In the Spring of 2016 the group decided to hold events at Rebecca’s house in a dedicated space in her garage. It was a memorable summer of having the community choose toys alongside her family’s motorbikes, however the need grew larger to find a more sustainable space.

On August 2nd, 2016 the toy library finally had a place to call home, the youth room on the lower level of the Richfield Lutheran Church, and we have been thriving ever since!

In the fall of 2021, the toy library began expanding. Teresa and Abby opened the Northeast Minneapolis branch. They did many pop-up events until landing in the temporary space on Johnson Street. We quickly outgrew the small, one-room space! In 2023, MTL was fortunate to have joined the community of tenants at Northeast United Methodist Church with 3 rooms of toys.