'Tis the season to be giving and with the Wagga Wagga City Library's help you can achieve a wonderful pre-Christmas good deed.
The library's time-honoured Food for Fines appeal is returning in 2019, with community members invited to pay off their overdue loans with donations of non-perishable food items from Monday 25 November to Christmas Eve.
"This campaign has been running for more than 20 years… it actually started in when we were operating in our Gurwood Street building," Manager Library Services Claire Campbell said.
"We've always donated our collected goods to the Salvation Army, for volunteers to distribute in the New Year.
"It is just another way that public libraries promote equality within our communities and keep them connected through a variety of programs and services."
Ms Campbell believes the annual campaign brings out the best in the wider community.
"Usually we manage to fill a ute load of packaged boxes… it's an amazing amount of food," Ms Campbell said.
"Every year the generosity shown towards the appeal is astounding."
Ms Campbell said plenty of the donations, made by members of the public, are not paying off fines, simply a gesture of good will.
"You don't have to pay off a fine to make a donation," Ms Campbell said.
"This is about giving everyone a chance to feel that wonderful feeling of a making a difference to someone in need over the festive season."
Items are distributed in the months after Christmas, when families are feeling the pinch and purse strings are being tightened.
Wagga Wagga City Library is one of 18 branches of the Riverina Regional Library Service participating in the Food for Fines initiative.
