Richland Library St. Andrews Secret Santas Help All Year

The holidays are flocked with stories about "Secret Santas," those kind souls who pay off others' layaway bills.

But for Richland Library, the phenomenon isn't limited to December. Library employees told Patch that patrons anonymously give to others all year. 

On Thursday a mother of two and avid library customer left $10 to pay for others' fines at the Ballentine location. 

But she's not the only--or the first--one to think of other library patrons.

“We also recently had a customer at Richland Library Sandhills donate $20 toward random people's fines,” said Library Assistant Amanda Bracken. “We really have the best customers at our library!”     

It doesn't end at fines either. Some donate change to printing costs while others make more significant donations to library programs.

a Lets Speak English volunteer gave another young man $60 to take an English as a Second Language class at Irmo High School, said library manager Link Ko.  

“He always encourages new immigrants to get serious about learning English and his gift made it easier for the young man to adjust to a new life in US.

And recently, in the Southeast library locations, a man tried to tip an employee for helping with printing.  

“When I told him that I appreciated the gesture but couldn’t accept the tip, he offered to contribute it towards paying fines and printing fees for other customers,”said Kayla Kasprak, a branch clerk at Richland Library Southeast. 

Have you had someone pay off your bills anonymously? Tell us in the comments.