Piggybacking on Existing Parks Staff or Hire Part Times

As I said before, most  parks departments  are not  able to afford full time dedicated staff for Play Libraries .  There are other ways to staff a Play Library  in a park.

 

Bike lending at the Warren E Fox Nature Center

-In addition to their regular functions, staff at the Warren E Fox Nature Center  in  Estell Manor Park lend  bikes and helmets, softball equipment, volleyballs, frisbees, jump ropes, horseshoes and soccer balls.  link

 -About 50 parks in North Carolina lend fishing tackle(and at some sites adaptive fishing gear)  under the states Tackler Loan Program. The  N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission pays 75% of the cost of the gear. Someone at the commission got 50 parks in North Carolina  to lend fishing gear.  Great!. If you can loan fishing gear why can't you loan volleyballs or hula hoops?  I gave a call to one of the parks  who got the gear and asked if you can lend fishing gear any reason you can't lend other sports equipment. Answer was "I don't think so".


-Could maintenance staff at a park put out  movable loose equipment in  a park, and take it in at night? I talked to a parks maintenance supervisor who said yes. Ping Pong, pool, nok hockey and , foosball tables, exercise bikes, chairs, and  pianos,   are several movable objects that can be made available this way. (By locking this equipment to the ground   it can  help make sure the equipment dose not walk if unattended).

-Part Timers
 In NYC our parks department budget cannot pay for full time "animate Loose Parts"(aka recreation staff)  in our neighborhood parks. But where budgets permit I would think parks can hire part time employees to  man Play Libraries and lead  events  in parks  for the most popular day or days   of the week(Saturday and Sunday) .


 see -..Parks that lend recreation equipment