Leadership Team
Executive Director
Emily Bedford
Emily started the Calgary Toy Library in 2019 with a handful of friends. She had just brought her first daughter home to a 700-square-foot apartment. It didn’t take long to see how quickly children grow, and how their interests can shift from month to month. She leaned heavily on other moms: borrowing toys, passing along gear, and with every exchange came a bit of advice or just the quiet reassurance that no one was doing it alone. She wanted more parents to feel that. So, the toy library was born, right there in that apartment. Since then, she is passionate about helping families make a meaningful shift from buying more to needing less. We don’t have to own everything - often, we just need access to it.
Outside of the toy library, Emily works in marketing and communications and loves picking up and abandoning new hobbies.
Top toy recommendation:
Any of the board games for little kids: Hoot Owl Hoot, Sloth in a Hurry, and Count Your Chickens to add some screen-free magic for a family night in.
Board of Directors
Tiffany Balducci
Tiffany has been a member of the toy library since 2020 and is a union organizer, negotiator, and job evaluation specialist with the Canadian Union of Public Employees. An immigrant, former public librarian, and a mom to a preschooler, Tiffany believes play, community care, and accessible resources are part of raising strong families and a stronger society. Tiffany loves puns, solidarity, the occasional “Saved By the Bell” reference, and is always up for both a good protest and a good playroom cleanup.
She lives with her partner, Rory, and their energetic kiddo Zoë, who also loves to volunteer as a toy librarian and keeps the toy rotation well tested.
Top toy recommendation:
Melissa and Doug Castle Knight Play Set
Caitlin Clark
Caitlin first joined the toy library in 2022 while looking for ways to keep her toddler engaged through creative play while buying fewer toys that would inevitably end up under the couch. She is now the parent of two energetic young boys who have a remarkable ability to turn any living room into an obstacle course.
Outside of her role with the toy library, Caitlin works full time and enjoys spending time outdoors in the mountains with her family to burn off their energy and keep her sanity.
Top toy recommendation:
It’s completely underrated, but they love the Hape Marble Run. Endless ways to build and engineer new structures once you get the hang of it. Definitely better for kids closer to 5 and up.
Sheena Lawrie
Sheena was raised in Calgary, where she spent countless hours biking and rollerblading through local parks and taking in the beauty of the mountains. She’s excited to share that same adventurous, outdoorsy lifestyle with her son and create similar memories together.
She has been a Calgary Toy Library member and librarian since 2023. She truly appreciates the strong sense of community the library has created, especially its focus on encouraging sustainable toy use and upcycling.
Her family is at the heart of everything she does, and she loves building joyful, active experiences together.
Top toy recommendation:
Any of the ride-on toys and the trampoline!
Allison Mitic
Allison joined the Board of Directors in 2025, bringing a blend of legal expertise and a strong commitment to fostering open-ended and creative play for our children. She is particularly passionate about the library’s role in minimizing over-consumption, offering our community a sustainable, clutter-free alternative to the constant cycle of buying toys that kids eventually outgrow. Having been a dedicated member of the Toy Library since 2023, Allison experienced firsthand the incredible value this resource brings to Calgary families.
She lives and works in Calgary with her husband and two children,
both of whom enjoy the toy library regularly. She is honoured to help ensure the Toy Library remains a sustainable, accessible, and vibrant resource for our city’s children.
Top toy recommendation:
With a household currently obsessed with animals, they have seen the Hape wooden animal blocks and the Playmobil Noah’s Ark re-borrowed more times than they can count!