Toybrary Austin

Our family loves this place. My son has been coming here since he was 14 months and at every learning stage between then and now (he’s now almost 2) the Toybrary has toys, activities and special guests that keep him engaged and my husband and I happy. Renting toys is such a great idea for the obvious reasons (kids get bored and/​or age out of toys so quickly, we have a small home, budget friendly… you get it) and Liza makes it so easy to do and there is no shortage of great options for every type of kid.
We sometimes come just once every other week to swap out toys and other months we come every few days and in one month have rented up to a dozen different toys including the larger floor, multi activity ones which are great to have at our house for when I host playdates.
I like that the membership includes use of the playroom for free because more often than not my son wants to hang out so that’s one less fight to worry about in my day. The bathroom has a well appointed change station which you would think is a given but not all «kid friendly» businesses offer this so it’s always a nice bonus when I see this.
I’ve noticed in others reviews people have taken issue with Liza’s attitude so I’d like to share my experience which has been nothing but wonderful. My family and I know her to be warm, personable and accommodating. There is no doubt she is busy and maybe that can be misconstrued for rude or cold but personally as a small business owner myself, I know how busy it can be being your own boss and just because someone is sitting in front of a computer a lot does not mean they’re not working! Just my two cents.

This place is amazing. I can’t believe I haven’t Unilocaled this place yet. We have been coming here for about 2 years. My 3 year old loves it.
The owner, Liza truly loves what she’s doing based on the way this place is run. It’s very thoughtfully arranged to make parents comfortable and gives the kids free reign to explore and play in a safe and contained environment.
I’ll give you one example of the thoughtfulness, the restroom has a beautiful full sized changing table with a diaper genie right next to it and even wipes in case you forget yours. She uses Babyganics products and has individual hand towels for you to dry your hands so you don’t spread germs to others.
Her activities are so unique. Most recently we attended a Nutcracker tea party that was thoroughly enjoyed by my son. They had someone come in to read the story of the nutcracker and teach the children the dance. She also had a whole room set up with tea party items such as cups and saucers, little tea sandwiches and other snacks, and fun activities for the kids to do.
They always have something interesting going on for holidays and it’s just a wonderful place overall. I highly recommend you join the mailing list to be notified of events coming up. I’ve never done this, but they also have a drop in childcare so you can drop your children off, run some errands and pick them back up.
A true Austin TREASURE.

I took my 20 month old here for an afternoon of play. He had so much fun! We will be back. It was so nice I wish there was one more north around Cedar Park/​Round Rock so it wasn’t such a drive from us.

Pretty cool concept — renting toys.
I like their stay and play for $ 5. A nice place to get out of the house and play indoors w other kids
My fav part is date nights. Every Friday night from 5 – 8 they will watch your LO for $ 25. That’s cheaper than any sitter I’ve run into. We tried it tonight and it went find but I wish more kids were there (though she says her limit is 5 kids)
She also has drop in sitter services tues and thurs from 10 – 12 for $ 20. So I will have to try that and drop into a yoga class nearby
The only things I would improve would be some carpet for smaller babies starting to crawl and some nice light music. And maybe the rented toy area behind a curtain (my LO was trying to open the bags filled w toys… they are so tempting!)

We love toybrary! It’s small enough that I can let my toddler run loose without having to follow her around. There’s a great variety of toys and every time she turns around something catches her eye. She doesn’t get bored easily here like she does at a lot of places. We haven’t tried renting toys yet but we might once baby #2 is a little older.

I have to say the quality of toys, layout, and little details all come together to make this place a kid (and mommy) paradise!
For mommy there are comfy chairs, clear lines of sight, coffee/​break area, and a clean stocked bathroom with nice changing area.
For little ones there are great toys, safe spaces to explore and play, classes, and engaging décor.
Best part: Everytime we go (my 19 month old) takes a 3 hour nap after we get home! THREE HOURS!
If it’s raining, Toybrary
If it’s cold, Toybrary
If it’s Tuesday, Toybrary
You get the idea ;)

We first visited the Toybrary at their 2 year anniversary party several months ago. My son was only 6 months old at the time and not yet needing lots of new toy stimulation, so I opted to get the 6 visit punch card (normally $ 25 but was on special that day only for $ 15 — a great deal either way though since you can also just pay $ 5 to drop in) instead of signing up for a membership that included checking out toys to take home.
We’ve since visited 4 or 5 times and love it! Each month as my son grows up and develops more abilities (he was barely sitting up on his own when we first went, now he rocks, crawls, stands, etc.) he’s able to enjoy more and more of the toys. It’s never crowded, but there are often a few other children there who my son can watch and be entertained by, interact with, and general keep the vibe lively (but not crazy). We enjoy meeting friends there for play dates since there are plenty of age-​appropriate toys for the kids to play with, and comfy chairs for the moms to relax in. And, it means you don’t have to make a snack and clean your house to have a play date with a friend — bonus!
I also appreciated how responsive they were when I sent a question to them via Facebook message on a Sunday evening asking about their Monday hours (since they just recently started staying open Monday mornings, and I wasn’t sure if it was a weekly thing). Liza responded just 10 minutes later — great!
We really enjoy our visits to the Toybrary and will continue to spread the word and visit!

I have a 2 and 4.5yo that have a blast at Toybrary Austin. We have always found it very clean and enjoy the fun musical events like Staci Gray. I have noticed the owner to be a bit standoffish in the past but was warm and welcoming on our last visit which in encouraging that she is listening to feedback and making improvements. We would be here all the time except that we live in far South Austin and this is a little out of the way for us but very fun and worth it when we visit. Would love a S. Austin location! :)

We looooove The Toybrary! I’ve been coming since my daughter was 8 months old. She is now almost 13 months and loves this place. We signed up for a membership, which has been wonderful. I love that you can check out any and all of the toys and bring them back as often as you like. This includes the big toys on the floor too. Liza is so sweet and always remembers us and makes sure to say hi to our baby and dote on her. She held and watched her too when I had to run out to the car.
And the events are very creative, enticing, and fun. Even without a membership, what a great place to come and play. It’s also very close to Heartsong, and this makes for a dream day for a SAHM. It’s great too to send daddy on the weekends. Sometimes it’s hard to figure out where to take your toddler. If we can’t come up with a plan we always have The Toybrary, this is the place to go to let our daughter run around freely and get her energy out anytime.
Had to mention the adorable bathroom. Love the personal hand towels and clean changing table station. Comfy chairs for the parents to sit and relax with coffee all around the Toybrary, but I’m too busy chasing around my child! Very tidy and clean. Amd love the stuffed animals and dolls placed around to play with. And it seems that my child can really grow into this place too. The dress up area looks fun and I always see older kids really enjoying themselves too. My daughter loves to watch them play and she tries to act grownup like them. Sometimes she is lucky and they pay attention to her. So very good for social interactions between babies and children.

This is a cool concept but only in theory; it’s expensive. $ 35 a month for 12 months is the cheapest membership, for that price I could actually buy these toys for my kids instead of «renting» them.
They have a small play area with toys scattered all over the place making it difficult to walk around. I took my 3 year old there and she was definitely too big for it, all the toys are for kids age 2 and younger.

Liza has created such a fantastic place for parents. The colorful banners outside scream– «bring your kids in here to play!»
As I walked in, I was cheerfully greeted in spite of another mom who was currently being served ahead of me. It was great to walk in to a cool, clean, fun-​filled space to see happy babies nursing and children playing with toys as moms sat and chatted with one another.
After talking with Liza I learned that she has parenting workshops and classes for kids in addition to her toy library program and play dates. What a find!
In one place your kids can play and learn, while you can meet new friends and sign up for parenting info.
If you haven’t been here yet, don’t delay.
You’re gonna love it!

Liza is so sweet! There are so many toys for your kids to play with and check out. The best part is that none of them are the annoying kind. You know flashing lights and noisey. They are meant to help your child learn not distract them. Also, there are snacks and drinks for you kids, a party room for a special occasions and a family restroom for changing babies.

I have been coming to the Toybrary for over a month now on a weekly basis. Oddly enough, I originally came because my daughter takes an art class there with a another independent business owner she must have some working relationship with to use the space. I think the fact that she partners with other local moms, women, and businesses is nice and I totally support this. It is near my house, so it was convenient for me with ample parking.
I have an almost 6 year old and a 2 ½ year old. I bought a punchcard to allow my younger daughter to play while my older one takes an art class in the back. This is an ideal set up for. I bought a punch card for 6 visits for $ 25. My 2 ½ year old loves the bright colors and various toys. She has never really tried to go in the back area (where the owner keeps the borrow only toys), and once she did and I just told her no and it wasn’t an issue. I don’t understand some of reviews where parents harp on this. It’s a multi-​use space, watch your kids and tell them no, pretty simple to me. She even has some furniture and a playhouse strategically placed to help kids see this partition.
I was impressed with the lack of paper towels in the bathroom area. She has a basket of clean clothes and one for dirty, not being a paper towel family I give this a big thumbs up. She also appears to have more green products for hand-​washing and sanitizing. Nice bonus.
My older child, who I think is too old to really enjoy the place, actually loves the place too. She likes the bikes and stage and dress up clothes.
I have attended a birthday party here as well recently. It seems like a pretty sweet party setup for kids 1 – 4. They have a food area in the back, bright colored decorations, and fun upbeat kids music playing. There was ample space and chairs for kids and adults. I might conducer doing a birthday party here for my daughter’s 3^rd birthday.
I don’t find the place to be dirty like some have mentioned. The concrete floors to me are way more hygienic than carpeting. I don’t find my kids to be any more dirty after rolling around their floor then the Thinkery, gym childcare or a playground. We’re talking about drooling toddlers playing with toys, no one is asking you to eat off the floor. If this is a true problem for people maybe ask the owner if she would consider a shoe off policy upon entrance.
I find the owner to be a very agreeable person. Sometimes she has time to chat, other times she seems very busy, but not rude. She doesn’t seem to have any other employees so I imagine she is wearing a lot hats and tries to get stuff done when she can. She has always been very patient with the 5,000 questions my older child asks.
All in all a good place for younger kids (under 5 maybe?) I joined after my punchcard was used up because my daughter really enjoys the art class and my younger loves the place week to week. Now we can borrow toys, we’ll see how that goes, we can’t even return library books on time these days. If you have more then 1 kids and you go once a week I’d say it makes sense to have the membership.
I’ll check back next year and update my review.

So here we are, a year after we joined and I still love this place. My twins love it too. Alot of folks dont realize your membership is 35 a month for the whole fam. So I have twins, and they can come play for free. (Usually 5 dollars a kiddo). Plus we get 3 toy rentals a month. It’s so worth it for us. it’s more like a family membership =) plus I get a nice break while they play and then they got so excited to pick out new toys.
The other thing I love are the different classes or activities they have. We enjoy the drop in music classes. And they just started a cool homeschooling/​preschool class that we are gonna try out. I recommend following toybrary on fb or check out the calendar online. Guaranteed you’ll find something your kiddos will like (they even have mommy workout classes so you can work out while the kids play).
Some of the reviews said Liza is rude. Here’s the thing about that. While I don’t think she’s rude, cause I’ve always had great convo with her when there, I think she just wants you to do your thing. Let your kiddos play. Let parentals interact or be on your phone (guilty. You know you are too, don’t lie!). If you have a question or comment, she will answer or interact with you. Plus shes not a car salesman thats going to be all up in yo face (what can i do to get you to sign up today?!) I like that, but I guess others see it differently.
So in short, still great and worth it. But I like to go there to get a break from my house or meet other mommies (I am in need of mommy friends if you are looking!).

This place is fantastic! I found this place almost two years ago after I had my son, and started going a few times a week. It’s a great place to relax while your kids play in a safe and friendly environment. Shortly after my first visit (could have easily been my first visit) I decided to join the membership and take advantage of the toy lending offered there. I’m so happy I did because I’ve found so many great toys and activities that my son loves… for like a week tops… then I just return them and get new ones! Saves me so much money. And when he actually likes something longer then we know what to get him for his next birthday or other random gift giving situation.
They also do birthday parties and have all kinds of events going on. Great place, fills up my dance card.

I have never met such a rude business owner in my life, especially someone who is supposed to be kid friendly.
When I took our toys back today I let her know that we would not be renewing our contract as she requires a 30 day notice (if not she automatically renews your contract. Something to be aware of.) she very rudely informed me that it was too bad if I wanted out, I was in a contract. Clearly she didn’t listen to the word *renew* and I had to point out her own 30 day notice policy.
The entire place is very dirty every time we go. I always clean and sanitize the toys we check out before giving them to my son because I don’t trust that this actually gets done by her. Today she came up to me in front of other moms to ask me to clean the toy bags we returned because they were dirty. She literally told me to go to the back and gets rags from under the sink and clean them! As soon as we get home from checking out toys I take the toys out and put the bags away so they don’t get lost so I know for a fact the bags were dirty already when we got them. I don’t pay $ 35 a month to be treated like a cleaning lady and talked down to in front of others.
This lady doesn’t care a bit about customer service or creating a good experience for your kids. Once she gets your money she will become disgustingly rude. Stay far away!!!
In response to the owners response:
1. I don’t even have pets, more proof the bags were dirty in the first place.
2. There are NUMEROUS other reviews on here that say the same 2 things. The owner is rude. The place is dirty.
3. I let my moms group know about this and here are just a few of the many responses I got.
«it’s funny you say how dirty it is because I could of sworn that’s where our daughter got HF&M!»
«Yikes!!! I didn’t want to bad mouth the place because I love this „toybrary“ concept, but even I think it’s really grimy there… I gave Khoi a bath right after he played there for an hour and it was the first time he’s ever turned the water dark grey AND left a ring around the tub! I guess the floor is bound to be that dirty since it’s not a shoe free zone.»
«I’ve heard she is not the nicest person & can be very rude. Sorry you had a bad experience :(you’d think someone with that biz would be super fun & caring!»
«I love the idea of a toybrary (local business, lady owned) and wanted to join but saw quite a few reviews with similar stories to yours and got scared off. Wish there was another option in town …»
Anyone else see a theme?! Maybe you should stop making excuses in all of your responses to these negative reviews and just apologize. So much for caring about the customers who pay your bills…

We looooooooooove the Toybrary. Our kid is not the social butterfly (a butterfly, but the one who stands back and observes) and she gets easily overwhelmed by a room full of kids, but this place makes it easy for her to explore the toys and do that observing that she is so awesome at. You’ll find all kinds of parents for you to visit with and all kinds of friends for your bean. Winning!
Liza has done an excellent job of offering diverse activities. She’s laid back, but certainly professional. Today was the first day I got to visit with her… super cool lady. I’m so glad she’s doing what she’s doing. She’s a gem.
We are so happy to swap out toys every week (you can keep them a month) because we all know kids are all about a toy until they are not.
AND drop in childcare? Hey now, this mama needs a breather and hello Toybrary! French music classes? Yoga for me AND the kid? USE this place! USE your membership… I promise you won’t regret it.

Awesome concept! But expensive, poor customer service and it’s dirty!
I’ve been to the Toybrary for free play a few times now and I have a few complaints. First, the shop owner is incredibly moody. One day she is so friendly and inviting and the next, she us snappy and rude. You would think someone in that line of work would be interested in playing with the kids and talking to the moms but she seems to have no interest whatsoever. She just sits on her computer and makes you feel like you are interrupting her if you have a question. When I asked about pricing she didn’t even look at me and directed me to a pricing list.
Second, the point of going to a place like this is to let your kid play freely with out having to redirect them. The first thing the owner tells you when you walk in is what is off limits. It is stressful for moms with kids who are too young to explain to them what is off limits. How about a barrier, or curtains or ikea closets to put the toys thar can be borrowed out if reach of wondering hands? Also, she also keeps the dust buster and it’s cord/​charger right where the kids play. Of course, my son wants to play with it! Can’t she put it some where out of reach?
And third, it is dirty. Places like the Thinkery keep their floors so clean that I don’t worry about my son crawling around. After just an hour at the Toybrary my son’s pants and hands were filthy.
I really like the concept of this shop, especially with summer right around the corner, it will be a good indoor option for free play. There are lots of areas that can be improved upon though.

I’m just not a fan of this place. I have been for 2 events and 1 stay and play. I don’t hate it, but definitely don’t like it. The events get really crowded and it is hard to move around inside. When staying to play, my son doesn’t understand which toys he can play with and which he can’t. I spend a lot of time saying, «you can’t play with that» and dealing with 3-​year old disappointment. The toys that are out for play are not the most exciting so we don’t stay long unless he finds a friend.
One thing that is slightly irritating is that there is no posted policy on ages for being charged. I also brought my (not yet) 10 month old and was «charged» for her to stay and play. I assumed she would be free like every other place on earth. I said, «you punch for babies?» She said curtly, «she is going to play right? Or are you going to hold her the entire time?» Fortunately, I was gifted a punch pass because I would have refused to pay $ 5 for my baby to crawl around on their (dirty) floor and occasionally handle a toy.
Overall I’m not impressed with the actual place but it is a neat idea.
*EDITED to include owners response* I just got this message from the business owner. Apparently, Unilocal reviewers are not supposed to voice their opinions on businesses.
Hi Jennifer,
I remember you being here and I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy it. Just wanted you to know that all of my advertising clearly states that Toybrary Austin is for 6 month-​5 year olds. Lots and lots of people bring crawling babies here to play and are happy to pay for it. If babies don’t play, then I don’t charge the parents. That’s why I asked you the question, and I apologize if it came across as curt.
Each time a new person comes in, I explain what toys are for playing with here and which toys are only to be played with when checked out. There are plenty of fun things to play with in my play area, and babies often play here for 2 hours or more.
I would encourage you to talk to any owner of any business directly before posting on Unilocal.I always listen to customers and take feedback seriously. Posting negative reviews on Unilocal can be very harmful to a business and it’s also hurtful to a business owner who is doing their best to provide a great service.

Liza sent me an invite through Meetup to come have a play date at her store. Figured I’d check it out in person before scheduling an event there. It didn’t disappoint.
Great location. Central to lots of restaurants, Starbucks and stores. Makes for a fun afternoon out and about.
We walked in and were not greeted by Liza at the front desk. She was busy with a customer for the first 15 minutes we were there and it took that long to get an acknowledgement of our presence. She just seemed busy but it’s always a nice feeling to get a smile and «hello.»
Once she did acknowledge us, she was very nice. She asked if we were members or there for $ 3 play. Mentioning it was the latter, I got up to pay with my $ 20. The payment options were a) I could purchase a stamp card, in cash; five visits for $ 15 with the 6^th visit free or b) Use a credit card for the $ 3 because she only had a $ 5 for change. Since I didn’t know if we would use the additional five visits, I opted for $ 3 trial visit. If you go, bring some cash if you want to avoid using your credit card.
The first thing I noticed were the cement floors. Total nightmare for the little ones. I felt my face flush with nervousness a few times when Kiddo attempted the slide. Crisis diverted by stacking a few of the circular rugs under the end of the slide, but I still had to hover. Wearing shoes down the slide was a bad idea, as it caused accidental braking down the sides when shoes touched. Socks caused no hiccups.
When I asked Liza about the cement floors, she said she had considered mats or larger rugs but that so many parents loved the unencumbered space for the kids to ride the little bikes they provide. Makes sense but it’s still a nightmare for those still wobbly or little daredevils. Probably a low profile carpet would work well to solve for both the bike riders and parents worried about bodily injuries.
They had a good selection of toys to play with; playhouse, ride on toys, bikes, dress up clothing, kitchen, magnets, wooden toys, real metal mini shopping carts, a slide and many others. Also comfy chairs for the parents. The bathroom was stocked with a mini potty toilet ring and diapers. Sweet touch.
Liza let us run free and didn’t hover. Kiddo had a fun time and it was $ 3 well spent. We will be back for future open play and some of the fun events they have. Look forward to coming back. It was like discovering a jewel.