San Bruno Public Library to Participate in Food for Fines Program

Article Source: City of San Bruno CA

DATE: October 23, 2018

TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council

FROM: Jovan D. Grogan, City Manager

PREPARED BY: Joanne Magrini, Community Services Director

SUBJECT: Adopt Resolution Authorizing the San Bruno Public Library to Participate in Food for Fines Program

BACKGROUND:

The proposed Food for Fines program would allow library patrons to have their overdue library fines removed in exchange for donating non-perishable food items to those in need between November 1 – December 31. Food for Fines has been conducted amongst nearly all public libraries in San Mateo County for the past seven years. However, to date, the City of San Bruno has not participated.

DISCUSSION:

The benefits of a Food for Fines program would be threefold.

First, Food for Fines would allow library patrons the opportunity to bring their library accounts into good standing by donating non-perishable food items. The maximum fines and fees any library patron can accrue before having their account frozen is $15.00 per account. Last year’s program cleared the overdue fines of 4,199 library patrons throughout San Mateo County, except San Bruno and Menlo Park, which have not participated in the program to date.

Second, another benefit of the proposed program would be the recovery of long overdue library materials. Patrons with billed or damaged items on their accounts would not be eligible to have fees associated with those items removed under the Food for Fines program. Library materials longer than 30 days overdue enter a billing status. The patron is billed for the entire price of the item. Some patrons who receive such a bill do nothing, and simply stop using the library. However, once a billed item is returned, the patron is charged only the overdue fines, which achieve a maximum of $8.00 per item. Under Food for Fines, patrons who return long overdue library items as well as a donation of food, would have their overdue fines removed. Under this scenario, the library patron benefits by being allowed to once again use the library and the library benefits by having materials returned which are then available to the larger community.

Finally, Food for Fines would provide food to those in need. The San Bruno Library would partner with other public libraries in San Mateo County to have all donated food items delivered to Second Harvest Food Bank. Last year’s Food for Fines program collected over 36,000 pounds of food combined from all public libraries in San Mateo County, with the exception of San Bruno and Menlo Park. The 4,199 people who had their fines cleared through the 2017 program donated an average of 8.70 pounds of food, which represents significantly more than the program required.

FISCAL IMPACT:

Last year’s Food for Fines program removed $56,403 from 4,199 library patron accounts throughout San Mateo County, except San Bruno and Menlo Park. This represents an average of $13.43 per account. It is expected that the San Bruno Library would experience a similar average per patron.

Based on the experiences of other libraries in San Mateo County, staff estimates that approximately 125-175 San Bruno residents would avail themselves of the program. If San Bruno were to hold to the average of $13.43 removed per account, the total amount of deleted fines would range anywhere from $1,700 - $2,400.

Determining the amount of actual lost revenue is not possible. Some patrons who accrue fines stop using the library and have no intention of ever paying their library fines. It is not possible to determine the number of people in this position who would participate in Food for Fines. Therefore, it is only possible to determine that the amount of lost revenue will be some amount less than the estimated range of removed fines, which would be $1,700 - $2,400.

ALTERNATIVES:

1. Do not authorize San Bruno Public Library to participate in Food for Fines program

RECOMMENDATION:

Adopt Resolution Approving San Bruno Public Library’s Participation in Annual Food for Fines program.

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FULL Council Agenda Packet WITH Staff Reports can be viewed and downloaded from:

https://sanbruno.ca.gov/gov/elected_officials/city_council_minutes_n_agendas.htm

This document should be available late Thursday or Friday before the Tuesday Council Meeting

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Robert Riechel

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