Families who want to check out items from our Educational Materials Library must start a membership with the Family Resource Center. You can do this by checking out our Membership page. Once your family has become a member, you can browse our Educational Materials Inventory. We recommend all families first explore our How It Works page to understand the process of our lending library.

Our Educational Materials Library program allows members to check out as many items as their membership level allows. Caterpillar: 3 items at a time Chrysalis: 5 times at a time Professional: 8 items a time We have no time limit for how long you have materials checked out. If you have a material your child is passionate about, you can keep it for a long time. Simultaneously, if your child does not find a material very engaging, you can return the item immediately in exchange for a new item. You are allowed to have as many items checked out at a time as your membership level allows.

Our system allows families to reserve items online and collect them at the Family Resource Center located in Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church in St. Paul, MN. Families can also browse and try out materials at our physical location before checking them out. Follow the signs to our Family Resource Center room, and one of our staff members will be happy to assist you with your return or exchange. Our address: 1669 Arcade St. St. Paul, MN 55106

The Family Resource Center's hours of operation (central time): Weekdays: 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM Saturdays: 9:30 AM to 12:00 PM Please visit our Calendar & Events page to view upcoming Symposium and Events, which are usually conducted Tuesday evenings from 5:30 to 6:30 PM.

Our team prides ourselves for selecting high-quality early childhood educational items that promote cognitive development, social-emotional growth, and fine/gross motor skills. We look for items that are beautifully crafted, child-size, and Montessori inspired. Our team seeks research-based pedagogies and materials informed by cognitive neuroscience, child development, and longitudinal studies examining quality of life indicators. We regularly reach out to other experts for their insights and obtain input from our community members based on their priorities and experiences.

Our organization uses a library management software called MyTurn, which is where we process our membership fees. MyTurn uses Stripe payment software to process these payments. Stripe accepts PayPal, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns about your payment method: hello@kscopelearning.org

Most of our materials have directions or notes for proper usage. Descriptions and directions of each item may be available when viewed in our online inventory. If you have checked out an item that does not appear to have additional instructions, please reach out to our team, and we would be happy to assist you! If you have additional questions for how a material should be used, please contact our team at hello@kscopelearning.org

If there is a specific item you would like to check out, but it is currently checked out by another family, you can select the "notify me" button when viewing the material. When the item is returned to the Family Resource Center, you will receive an email update that the material is now available for checkout.

When returning the item, please notify our team member of the item that is missing or damaged. We keep additional spare parts in our inventory to replace missing/damaged items. While we understand that wear and tear happens, our in-person coordinator reserves the right to determine if your family will have to pay a replacement fee for any damage item. We determine this cost based on the condition of the item and market rate. We ask all members to review our Terms of Use and Policies before participating in the Educational Materials Library lending service.

Yes! The Family Resource Center and Educational Materials Library is an idea created by an educator. We sympathize with educators who often pay out of pocket for new materials for their classrooms. Our library is filled with Montessori items, education curriculum, and furniture/gross motor items not typically found in traditional toy libraries.

Yes! As we continue to fill out our library, we would be delighted to take your gently used toys and materials for children ages birth to 6 years old. We focus our inventory on high-quality, early childhood educational materials. Please ensure that your item is in good condition, has no missing pieces, has all the CORRECT pieces, and is in the age range we service. Donations can be dropped off during our operating hours at our location: 1669 Arcade St., Saint Paul, MN 55106. Please email our team, hello@kscopelearning.org, to let us know that you will be dropping off a donation. All donations to the Family Resource Center are tax deductible. Our organization, Kaleidoscope Learning, is a registered 501c3 organization, as well as our sister nonprofit, Monarch Montessori School. Please notify us if you would like a receipt of donation for your records. Our acceptance of your donation does not mean that the donated items will be in our library inventory. We reserve the right to discard any donated items that are not up to our quality and educational standards. If you have any questions about the donation process, please contact our president, Jennie, at president@kscopelearning.org.