Felines for Fee Forgiveness is an initiative launched by the The Worcester Public Library in Massachusetts (just three hours from NYC) that’s letting library members pay for their lost or damaged book fees with photos of their (or anyone’s) cat.
The library expressed their understanding of accidents and how fees can hold members back from fully utilizing the library. Hence why they created a month-long program, dubbed March Meowness, as a fun and cute way to relieve members of their fees and get them back into the library.
Acceptable cat pictures can be of your own, someone else’s, famous cats, a shelter cat or a drawing of a cat. Once shown, the Worcester Public Library will forgive fees directly on your library account. Plus, you can even submit your adorable photo or sketch to be displayed on the community bulletin board.
Not interested in cats? The Worcester Public Library will also accept “honorary cats” including dogs, orcas, capybara—generally any other animal will do.
Fee forgiving rules are as outlined on their website:
- Items must be WPL owned
- Items must be lost for at least 2 months or longer to be waived
- All Library of Things items are excluded
- Items are not guaranteed to be waived, and forgiveness will be given at the discretion of library staff
- Accounts with 5 or more items will need to be reviewed by a manager of Circulation, and patrons will receive a response as soon as possible
- You are not eligible for forgiveness if your lost or damaged items can be viewed as an attempt to restrict access to diverse content
- Account holders must be present
The entire month of March Meowness also includes plenty of feline fun, including adult crafting, cat eye makeup tutorial, DIY cat toys and more! Find the remaining upcoming cat-related events here.