32k+ Pounds Of Food Taken In Win-win County SCC Library Program

SARATOGA, CA — Deemed a major success, the results of Santa Clara County Library District’s 2019 amnesty program for library fines and fees are in, with another huge haul of food items collected for Second Harvest Food Bank of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

The tally for April and part of May has amounted to 32,280 pounds of canned and boxed food items donated by local residents at the district's eight libraries and bookmobile — some of it from patrons with nothing owed.

“Once again, we want to thank the residents of Santa Clara County who stepped up to help their
neighbors through Food for Fines,” County Librarian Nancy Howe said. “We are also very pleased to see thousands of our patrons returning to the library with a clean slate.”

More than 6,000 library patrons traded food to get their fines and fees waived through "Food for Fines," with more than 5,100 returning to a zero balance and 91 percent of participants regaining full library privileges. In all, the district waived over $130,000 in outstanding fines or fees.

Taken together with last year’s inaugural offering of the program, 34 tons of food has been collected for families and individuals in need and 14,338 patrons had fines and fees waived.

“Food for Fines is like peanut butter and jelly,” county Supervisor and Library Joint Powers
Authority Board Chairman Mike Wasserman labeled the program. “We have been able to bring together two important goals - providing sustenance to local families and restoring library users’ full privileges - into one fantastic combination.”

Santa Clara County has figured about one in four residents fall into an at risk category for food insecurity. Nearly 100 million meals are estimated to have been missed among local households over the past year.

Programs like Food for Fines and "Lunch at the Library" help fill this gap. The timing of the initiative is particularly important, as it helps Second Harvest build up its stores in preparation for summer. This is when school is out, when the county has discovered only one out of six children in the subsidized school meal program has access to nutritious food.

The Santa Clara County Library District includes two bookmobiles, an online library, seven community libraries and one branch serving Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Saratoga and the unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County. In 2018, the district had nearly 370,000 library account holders and welcomed 3.3 million visitors who borrowed 9.85 million items.

See also

• SCC Library District Trades Amnesty On Fines With Food For Needy