Lost a library book? It doesn’t have to be a cat-tastrophe.
At least not during the month of March in Worcester, Massachusetts.
A library there will scratch certain fees off a book borrower’s record in exchange for a picture of the person's cat — or any cat, for that matter.
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The goal is to encourage people to read and visit the library, even if they owe money for a lost or damaged book.
"People are struggling and sometimes choosing between paying for that book that, literally, your dog ate for $30 or buying $30 worth of groceries — those are two very different things," Jason Homer, executive director of the Worcester Public Library, told Fox News Digital.
"And, people do have priorities. So we want to come to them with kindness, with forgiveness and say, ‘Just be part of our community.’"
It’s called the "Feline Fee Forgiveness" program — all part of the library’s month-long "March Meowness" event.
It aims to reduce barriers to returning to the library, regardless of a person's circumstances.
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And Homer and his staff thought, What better way to welcome people than with soft, cuddly cats?
"A librarian is a book lover, a cardigan lover and a cat lover," Homer said.
"Our staff has a lot of cats. Some of the staff were in a meeting and they were coming up with ways to bring people back to the library, and they thought, ‘What if we removed as many barriers as possible and told people they could show us a picture of a cat, draw a picture of a cat or just tell us about a cat?'"
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In 2020, the library got rid of fines for overdue books. Why? Because so many people, after the COVID lockdown, had misplaced books that were not able to be returned in person.
In Worcester, that time period lasted for a year and a half, Homer said.
"There's a significant number of studies done by public libraries across the country that have proven we don't get books back with fines," Homer said.
"We end up losing people. Realistically, those fines did really nothing for the library, and it wasn't really a money-generating piece. It was more like a sitting debt that was never paid."
Homer said lost library books are a nationwide issue.
"Many communities have this list of kids that have these $30 fees on their cards when they had no control and there was no ill intent," Homer said.
"There's no way to really collect that. So we're moving on. And ultimately the goal here was to find some way to get people to come back to the library — [people who] might be afraid of the feeling that they will get penalized. We would rather work with funders to get the money and not have to punish kids for some things that are out of their control."
On average, the library collected around $11,000 in fines, Homer said, but it now has a foundation that could cover those fines — as long as the book is eventually returned.
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"When you lose or damage a book beyond lend-ability — say you drop it in the ocean and it’s covered with sand and jellyfish and we can’t take it back and loan it to another person — we do have fees for that," said Homer.
Still, well-meaning people have accidents and Homer and his team said they don’t want that to get in the way of progress and enlightenment.
"Reading is the best equalizer we have," Homer said.
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"It is a space where people can learn, grow, experience things. We see literacy, both written literacy and digital literacy, as two of the biggest equalizers that we can afford [for] our community. Reading is something that helps people elevate themselves and make their lives better."
Plus, it’s patriotic.
"What's more American than a public library?" Homer also said.
"We have a baseball stadium next door and we often joke that we have the two most American things — a public library and baseball — right next door to each other. And so that's, for us, something that's equally important."
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The library has events scheduled during "March Meowness," including crafts and cat toy-making, story times, lectures, a movie screening of "Cats" and even a de-stress cat petting session.
Homer said the forgiveness fee actually extends way beyond cats.
The library will accept photos of "honorary" cats, dogs, raccoons, orcas or capybaras.
"Any ungovernable animal is good to us," he said.
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