By Ethan McSweeney[quote_box_right]Accepted Items

– Instant potatoes boxes
– Peanut butter
– Canned fruit
– Canned tuna, chicken or beef
– Canned vegetables
– Packaged dinner (e.g. Hamburger/Tuna Helper)
– Dry pasta, rice or beans
– Canned beans
– Cereal
– Canned tomatoes
– Canned soup
– Packaged desserts
– Cleaning products
– Toilet paper
– Toiletries[/quote_box_right]

Do you have an overdue library book lying around the house? Instead of the usual monetary fee, the Maricopa Public Library will let members pay off those fines with food donations in July.

Running July 5-31, Food for Fines is an effort to support F.O.R. Maricopa food bank by raising food and supplies, Library Manager Erik Surber said.

“It’s our way of doing a food drive for the local food bank, which needs a lot of help,” Surber said.

The library chose the month of July for the drive because it’s when the food bank has the greatest need, Surber said. This isn’t the first time the Maricopa Public Library has organized a food drive to pay off library fines.

Each donated item counts $1 toward an overdue book fine, but you don’t need to have an outstanding fine from the library to donate supplies. It’s uncertain how many overdue books are currently out from the Maricopa Public Library, Surber said, but the average fine is $5 to $7.

The donated items would only count toward overdue book fines, and not fines from lost items.

This story appeared in the July issue of InMaricopa.

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