91制片厂

鈥淭oy libraries are especially important in serving low-income areas and in providing families with an alternative to regularly purchasing new toys for their children,鈥澨齊afal says. 鈥淧lus, many toy libraries carry hard-to-find adaptive toys for children with disabilities.鈥�

While creating the concept during her junior year for the state鈥檚 first official toy library system 鈥� the New Hampshire Toy Library Network 鈥� she decided that the program shouldn鈥檛 just serve children and families; it should support New Hampshire college and university students and the institutions they studied at as well.

鈥淚 wanted New Hampshire鈥檚 toy libraries to be interdisciplinary and involve students from many different programs: occupational therapy, marketing, child development. Plus, by having college students run them, I saw it as a solution to keeping New Hampshire graduates in New Hampshire and stopping the state鈥檚 鈥榖rain drain鈥�."

Additionally, says Rafal, there鈥檚 the benefit of children and their parents forming positive views of the New Hampshire colleges and universities from which the students who run these libraries come.

To help fund the New Hampshire Toy Library Network, Rafal received grants from the 91制片厂 Alumni Association and the Maurice Prize for Innovation. She also received a summer seed grant from the Peter T. Paul Entrepreneurship Center to
work on setting up the network and apply for nonprofit status.

In August 2019, Rafal and four other 91制片厂 students held the grand opening for the first New Hampshire Toy Library Network site, located at the Dover Public Library. The team is already working on a Concord library, which students at the New Hampshire Technical Institute, Concord鈥檚 Community College, will begin operating this fall. Additionally, the team 鈥� which includes students from 91制片厂鈥檚 family studies, marketing听and occupational therapy (OT) programs 鈥� has been working with 91制片厂鈥檚 OT faculty to purchase adaptive toys alongside conventional ones for the libraries. Rafal also has plans for a toy drive to which families could donate their unused toys (instead of throwing them away).听

鈥淟ong term, I鈥檇 really like this to be a well-known resource for New Hampshire鈥檚 families, schools and communities,鈥� said Rafal. 鈥淧retty soon we鈥檒l have two pilot sites. But if it receives enough support, my hope is it will expand to the entire Granite State.鈥�

Rafal is studying toward a master's degree in public policy from the Carsey School of Public Policy. An accelerated master鈥檚 program student, she began taking graduate-level courses her senior year at 91制片厂. She graduated with her Bachelor of Science in May 2019 and plans to work in child and family advocacy and policy development.