The Fresno City College library is hosting a Toy for Fines drive which provides students the opportunity to not only clear their fees, but to pay it forward. This drive will end on Dec. 13.

FCC students can bring an unwrapped toy valued at $10 or more to the library to clear fees of up to $15.

This is specific to fines for regularly circulated books; not late fees for laptops, calculators, and other items.

All proceeds from the event will be going to the Marjaree Mason Center for victims of domestic violence.

Donna Cooper, dean of student success and learning said that the children living in shelters because of domestic violence will feel hope during the holidays when they receive these toys. “These children may have left their homes in desperation to escape violence and by receiving a gift from students at FCC may feel less forgotten,” Cooper said.

In addition to the charitable acts, a few other changes are underway in the library.

Beginning in Spring 2020, the library will be switching to Primo online catalog by Ex Libris, “an Israeli-baded software company that develops integrated library systems and other library software,” according to Mia Yang, a librarian at FCC.

This system is already used by Fresno State as well as the 22 other California universities and 110 California community colleges.

Students and employees “will no longer be charged late fees for books in general collections” as well as the new online catalog, Yang said.

“This means books that are in our nonfiction and fiction collection will not charge late fees,” Yang said. “Items checked out in the library’s Reserve collection will still have late fees.”