Got any library fines or fees that you’ve been neglecting to pay?
Then take part in an alternative payment solution: Grab a non-perishable food item and donate it to any one of the libraries within the Santa Clara County Library district. Once you do so, the library will waive your outstanding fines or fees, up to $100.
All collected items will be donated to Second Harvest Food Bank. The process is facilitated through a program called Food for Fines, which kicked off in the beginning of April and has recently been extended to May 5.
This is the second year that the library district has run Food For Fines, which Director of Communications and Marketing Diane Roche describes as “an amnesty program to remove barriers and make the library accessible to all residents in our Library District.”
“The Santa Clara County Library District appreciates our partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank to provide much-needed food to our communities,” Roche also shared. “With 1 in 4 residents in Santa Clara County at risk of food insecurity, we are feeding the mind and body throughout our communities with this program and partnership.”
To date, $110, 700 in fines has been forgiven across the Santa Clara County Library District through Food For Fines, and that number will no doubt continue to increase this coming weekend.Â
Meanwhile, when it comes to libraries in general, this Saturday is bursting with activity across quite a few district locations…
The Milpitas Library is planning Star Wars Day, wherein all the films from the original trilogy (not the prequel trilogy — calm down!) will be screened, and they’ll hold a craft session in which participants can make their own lightsaber earrings or a keychain.
The same day, the Gilroy Library’s got the Balanced Minds, Balanced Life mental health resource fair going down from 10am to 4pm.
As for the Saratoga Library, they have a carnival, complete with miniature golf, face-painting, a velcro wall, a hammer strength test, and more.
So taking part in Food for Fines isn’t the only reason to hit the library this weekend.
Learn more about Food For Fines here.
