This idea was shared on FB in The Universe of Stories-SRP posts, 7-3-2019. But there has been more and more interest that has been building in the library field about play. See also: Toy Library  and Fantasy Play.  

We are a small public library in a town of 4000 in rural Minnesota. I have been the librarian for almost 40 years. Our traditional storytimes had been attended by fewer and fewer people. I heard a wonderful session at the Minnesota Library Ass'n Conference a few years ago about a Mpls library that had started a Play Cafe. Theirs was AMAZING and much more than we could afford to do but was a terrific seed! We started the Playful Learning Center with a $3000 gift. It paid for the shelves and bins and toys you see here. The toys cover ages birth to about 7. (We also have a lot of cool, unusual games for 7+ on the flip side of this, paid for by the Friends of the Library. ...The Friends also provide free diapers for that Oh-No-We-Left-the-Diaper-Bag-at-Home-But-We-Are-Having-So-Much-Fun! dilemma. So ... Play Cafe. Tuesdays we are open 1-8 so Play Cafe is from 9:30-11.THAT is why I say "noise is not an issue". Families start arriving about 9:15. A craft table is set up with a craft for the day's theme. I try to make it simple but cool .. no paper plates allowed 🤣🤣🤣 ... Pinterest has become a close personal friend. 🤩😍 About 9:45, everyone is invited into the meeting room for stories/fingerplays etc.; the things you would expect at a storytime. Since this is ALL ages, that has become very tricky, as you can imagine. But I try to do a lot of participation and have remade many of my flannel board things to be BIGGER versions as Play Cafe has exploded. (There were about 100 people here on Tuesday. Normal is about 60-70). After stories, they are off to play/craft for about 20 minutes. Then we gather again to have a huge marching band parade or do something else with the instruments. Then it's free play and parent socialization time. This, I think, is why Play Cafe has become such a Thing. It's a chance to hang with other parents and grandparents (we get a lot of them too) while your child is playing in a safe, pretty cool environment. Is it perfect?? By no means! It is noisy. It is NOT your momma's storytime. Some of my parents miss that and I totally! get it. But storytime for 4 or 5 kids or Play Cafe for 60 or 70? Play Cafe will always win.

--Dianne Christie Pinney, (Le Sueur Public LIbrary/Le Sueur, MN)