HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005 Resolution No. 046•
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RESOL UTION NO . 3t(f_
SE RI ES OF 2G05
A RE SOLUTION AUTHORIZI NG THE ENGLEWOOD PUBLI C LIBRARY TO
IMPLEMENT Tl-IE SUMMER "FOOD FOR FIN ES" PROGRAM FROM MOK DAY, MAY 23
T I IRO UGII SUNDAY, JUNE 5, 200 5.
Wll[:REAS , the F.ng lcwood Publi c Library has spo nso red a "Fo od fo r Fincs11 program durin g
the Novcmbcr/Dc ccmbcr holidays for Lh c pas l fificcn ycurs; and
WHEREAS , the "Food for Fines" program allows patro ns with overd ue fin es to "pa y" th em
off through the donat ion of non-peri shable food item s; and
WHEREAS, th e food it crnf · .-! th en forwarclcd to th e Int erfait h Com munit y Service s fo r th ei r
••fo od bank" distribution to fi1 1ancially di sadva nt aged families in the Eng lewood area ; and
WHEREAS, the program is a benefit to th e com munit y in that the disadvantaged are assis ted ;
the air cleared with respect to fine s; the City rece ives its librar y materials back and the program
presents a posit ive im age of the Library an d th e Ci ty.
NOW, THEREFORE , BE IT RESOLVE D BY TI-IE CITY COUNC IL OF TII E CITY OF
ENGLEWOOD, COLORADO, THAT:
Sec ti on I. The Englewood Cit y Cou ncil hereb y auth ori ze s th e Englewood Publi c Library's
impl ementat ion of th e Summer "Food For Fines" progra m fr om Monda y, 'vfay ')), th roug h
Sunda y, June 5, 2005 . Th e co llect ed food will then be forwarded to the Int erFai th Co mmunit y
Services for distribution to financiall y di sadvanlagcd familie s in the Englewood area .
Loucri stiia A. Elli s , Ci<y Clerk
I. Lou cri shia A. Elli s. Cit y Clerk )DJ <h e Ci<y of Engle
above is a true.: co py of Rc so l111i o11 No , !/:,61_. Sc.:r ics of 2_205 .
~orad o, hereb y certify ,,
-b tlta
1:lli s, Cit y Clerk
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COUNC IL COMMUN ICATION
Dale : Age nda 11cm: Subj eel :
May 16, 2005 11 C ii Englewood Pub lic Library's "S ummer
Food for Fines " Program
Initi aled By: I Slaff Source:
Library Depar1m en1 H ank Long, D irec l or of Library Service s
COUNCIL GOAL AND PREV IO US COUNC IL ACT IO N
The Library has spo n so red lhe popular "Food fo r Fin es" progra m fo r lh e pasl 15 yea rs , and ea ch
year Cily Counci l has voi ce d ils supporl.
In 2003 lhe Library Board requesl ed expansion of lh e annua l program l o l wice a year as a way l o
miliga l e lhe in crease in overdu e Li brary fi nes and l o encourage lh e timely rel urn of Englewood
Pu b lic Library m alerials so they can be used by m ore p eople. Ci l y Council subsequen tl y app roved
expa nd ing th e prog ram to two we eks du rin g th e summ er as we ll as two weeks at th e end of the
calend ar yea r. The l wo weeks of lhe "Summ er Food for Fin es" program covers lhe las l week of lh e
public sc hool year and lhe firs l wee k of vaca ti ons, a lime during w hich sludenls and l eac hers are
cleaning ou l desks and lockers i11 prepa ration fo r 1he summer break and numerous overd ue Library
mater ials are located. Th e two weeks of th e "Winter Foo d fo r Fines" program trad itionall y cove rs
lhe period be lwee n Thanksgiv in g and lhe Chrislm as holidays. Hislorica ll y, each of th ese eve nls
averages $1,000 l o S 1,500 in donal ed food ilems for lhe lnl erFai lh Communily Services food bank.
RE COMMENDED ACTION
The Lib rary Departm ent reco mm en ds th at Co un ci l adop t a reso lut ion authori zing th e Library's
"Sum m er Food for Fi n es " p rogram from Mond •y, May 23 through Sunday, June 5.
BACKGROUND , ANALYS IS, AND ALTERN ATI VES IDENTIFIED
Since 1990 lh e Englewood Publi c Library has prov,ded ils "Food for Fi nes" program as a wa1• fo r
th ose palrons w ilh iines on ove rdu e Engl ewood Pub li c Library mat eria ls 10 "pay" 1hem off lhrough
111 e donati on of non -pe ri shab le food ilems 1h a1, in lurn, b en efi t loca l ar ea fa milies. Fo ll owing 20 03 's
in crease in max imum ove rdu e fin es fr om $2 to :}5, the Libr ary Board req ues ted that the numb er of
foo d it ems requir ed to pay off a si ngle overd ue ,:barge also be in creased beginnin g with the 2004
"Wint er Foo d for Fin es" program , e.g. it now 1ak 2s lwo fo od it ems to can cel out the lat e cha rg es
(not 10s 1 or dama ged c\1~1rges ) on one ove rdu e it em. Th ese food it ems must be presented to the
Li bra !) Sl aff al 1he Circ ulati on D esk in order for 1he fin es 10 be cleared fr om th e patron's co mpuler
reco rd . Th ~ co ll ec l ed food il ems are 1h en forwa rd ed 10 lnterfail h Commun ity Services for th eir
"food b,111k" dis tributi on to finan cia ll y di sa dva nta ged fam ili es in th e En glewood area. Thi s pr ogram
has bee n warn1 I) receive d by th e publi c since it s i•· '"J lion, and Libra ry pat rons now loo k forward
to it as a way of help1 m; oth ers while reli ev in g their \.. .. :i finan cia l obli ga ti ons . Thus , the program
pr ese nts a pos itiv e im age of th e Lib rary and the Cit y ,md is a "win -wi n'' si tuati on fo r everyone
in vo lve d.
FINANC IAL IMPACT
• Si nce its in ce pti on, th is pro gram has raised an es tima ted $22,200 in donated food items lo
ass ist need y families in th e Engl ewoo d area.
• The money th e Library co ll ec ts eac h month in "late charg es" (i.e. charges on books and oth er
Englewood Pu blic Library it e ms return ed pas t th ei r original "due date" and past th e thr ee-day
"grace peri od") goes 10 th e City's Ge nera l Fund. Th ese rev enu es tr adi tionally drop about 50%
durin g each of th e Library 's two-week "Food fo r Fin es" programs, but the loss is more than
offse t by th e "good wi ll " this program ge nerates among Libr ary patrons and by ge ttin g th e
Library materia ls back on th e shelve s so that others ca n us e th em.
LIST OF ATTAC HME NTS
Resolu ti on.
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