Library offers Food for Fines
Nonperishable donations accepted for late fees
LEOMINSTER » The library has jumped on the giving back bandwagon with Food for Fines, providing patrons the option to donate nonperishable food items that will be passed along to two community organizations in the city, Ginny’s Helping Hand and the Spanish American Center, rather than pay late fees now through the end of the year.
“We are getting more donations every day,” library Director Alexander Lent said. “It will take a few trips to deliver everything.”
Nonperishable, unopened and unexpired food in good condition is being accepted as a fine payment option, with each item worth $2. Lent said the response has been nothing short of positive and that the donation carriage keeps filling up.
“Even residents who do not have fines to pay off have dropped off food donations here just to help their community,” he said.
Lent said they have offered Food for Fines before but not for a few years.
“With more people relying on food banks due to the pandemic, this seemed like a good time to bring it back,” he said. “Library staff are excited about it, as are the Board of Trustees, who voted to authorize it.”
Lent is quick to point out that while he brought the idea of doing Food for Fines again to the board, he is “very glad the program is happening” and doesn’t feel he deserves the credit.
“It’s fairly common among public libraries and it definitely fits in with other city efforts,” he said. “It’s something the Board of Trustees eagerly voted to approve and it’s a project that involves the whole library team.”
‘With more people relying on food banks due to the pandemic, this seemed like a good time to bring it back.’
– Library Director Alexander Lent
The other city efforts Lent referred to include the annual Festival of Trees that kicked off at City Hall on Monday and raises funds for the Mayor’s Fuel Assistance Program, Toys for Tots and Fostering Change donation bins all around the city, and Thanksgiving baskets and food distributed to residents in need by Ginny’s, Roots Natural Foods, the Mayor’s office.
“Leominster’s city workers have diverse areas of responsibility, ranging from accounting to zoning and everything in between, but we are all here to serve the community,” Lent said. “These sorts of projects are ways to do that.”
He went on to say that the Food for Fines program means a lot to the library staff and board, and that “this sort of effort is important to everyone who works for the city.”
“The reaction from patrons has been very positive,” Lent said. “Leominster is a generous and community-minded place, and we are certainly seeing that through this program.”