Weird But True
Published
March 10, 2024, 9:43 a.m. ET
Lost a library e-book? It doesn’t should be a cat-tastrophe.
At least not throughout the month of March in Worcester, Massachusetts.
A library there’ll scratch sure charges off a e-book borrower’s file in trade for an image of the person’s cat — or any cat, for that matter.
The objective is to encourage individuals to learn and go to the library, even when they owe money for a misplaced or broken e-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, government director of the Worcester Public Library, advised 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 referred to as the “Feline Fee Forgiveness” program — all a part of the library’s month-long “March Meowness” occasion.
It goals to scale back limitations to returning to the library, no matter a person’s circumstances.
And Homer and his employees thought, What higher method to welcome individuals than with comfortable, cuddly cats?
“A librarian is a book lover, a cardigan lover and a cat lover,” Homer stated.
“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?’”
In 2020, the library removed fines for overdue books. Why? Because so many individuals, after the COVID lockdown, had misplaced books that weren’t in a position to be returned in person.
In Worcester, that point interval lasted for a 12 months and a half, Homer stated.
“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 stated.
“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 stated misplaced library books are a nationwide problem.
“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 stated.
“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 common, the library collected round $11,000 in fines, Homer stated, however it now has a basis that might cowl these fines — so long as the e-book is finally returned.
“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,” stated Homer.
Still, well-meaning individuals have accidents and Homer and his workforce stated they don’t need that to get in the best way of progress and enlightenment.
“Reading is the best equalizer we have,” Homer stated.
“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 additionally stated.
“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.”
The library has occasions scheduled throughout “March Meowness,” together with crafts and cat toy-making, story instances, lectures, a film screening of “Cats” and even a de-stress cat petting session.
Homer stated the forgiveness payment truly extends approach past cats.
The library will settle for pictures of “honorary” cats, dogs, raccoons, orcas or capybaras.
“Any ungovernable animal is good to us,” he stated.
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