The Sidney community is expected to benefit from an eight-day program starting Friday at the Sidney Memorial Public Library.
The fine-forgiveness program will provide patrons a chance to return overdue Sidney library material, and will benefit the Sidney Area Food Bank, said library director Roz Conner.
"It's an opportunity to start with a clean slate," she said. "It opens the door to library use."
For each nonperishable food item brought to the library, the fine will be waived on one overdue item, she said. This does not include lost books.
A box of spaghetti or a can of green beans can restore lost library privileges, which also include using the Internet, holiday DVDs and children's books.
The food bank is housed at the Sidney United Methodist Church, though it is run by members of several area churches. United Methodist Rev. Barbara Green said she was "very excited" to learn of the program.
"It's a problem to keep the shelves stocked," she said, but the food bank has been able to continue to help because of the support of people and organizations.
"In keeping with the holiday spirit, it seemed like a nice idea" to include the food bank in the program, Conner said. While there have been similar programs, it has never been done this way, she said.
The fine-forgiveness program gives patrons an opportunity to have a clear record while giving something back to the community, she said.
Until the library program is completed and the staff had an opportunity to evaluate the returns, Conner said, she was unsure just how many library items could be returned.
