About $2,000 in fines will be forgiven by the Chula Vista Public Library for patrons who donate non-perishable items to its Food for Fines food drive from Dec. 1 to 24.
This marks the fourth year the library will forgive $1 in library fines for every food item donated in December, with a $10 maximum on fines forgiven per person.
“What we found was that people did use it as it was intended, where they bring in a can of food and get a dollar wiped from their fines,” said Betty Waznis, the library’s director. “But what we also found was, many people bring in food who don’t have any fines, or we set a $10 limit and they just donate more because they feel like giving. It’s that time of year.”
The campaign was inspired by public libraries with similar successful programs in cities like Escondido.
“We had heard of this being successful in other locations,” said Waznis. “And even though that was at a time when there wasn’t very good funding for the library, we felt like we wanted to bring people back in and partner with some of our agencies.”
In previous Food for Fines drives the library has receive 1,500-2,000 pounds in food which is donated to South Bay Community Services.
The library also hopes that the program will encourage library patrons who might be avoiding old fines and help bring them back into the branches.
“You know it’s a fresh start for people, definitely,” said Waznis. “We’re always trying to work things out anyway. And this is a great way for people who may be a little shy to come back to the library.”
