another young lady...early twenties...came to the library tonight to pay off her fines with food. i explained that food would not pay off old fines but i figured i'd check her card and see if it was only a couple of bucks, since she brought in two food items (one expired box of stuffing and a can of cranberry sauce). sigh. you know what's next. she had $16 worth of fines from the summer. video fines, of course. so, i told her i was sorry but she didn't have to pay the fines just then anyway if she wasn't going to be using the library in the near future. so, she took her food and left.
on the other hand, another cocircworker got a patron who brought in a case of spaghetti'o's and bags of canned goods to pay for an old fine of $11. in this case, my supervisor gratefully took the food and waived the fine. she was just so happy that someone had the spirit to actually GIVE. we are collecting food for the women's shelter and to thank patrons we forgive overdue items. but Food For Fines has become a way for the public to pawn off their Knorr Leek Soup packets and expired cans of black beans on us and expect us to waive substantial fines...most of them video fines. sheesh.
2 comments:
I think it is wonderful that you collect food for those who need it and just disgusting that people would bring in food that they wouldn't eat themselves. Bah Humbug on them! :)
I feel your pain, except my library only doesn't waive replacement costs and a couple of other fees associated with replacing items. So we will get one can of soup for 30 dollars in fines. But like in your situation, we also get the opposite of some people bringing in multiple cases of food for fines under a dollar. So I guess the universe works itself out.
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