The worlds of libraries and cat lovers are very much overlapped. Add coffee lovers to the mix, and you have the trifecta. We have a Venn diagram showing the overlap, and it looks like one big circle!
Image via Cole and Marmalade
Libraries are generally a haven for cat lovers, and many librarians adore all things feline. You might even find a cat librarian assistant, such as at Edmonton Public Library. We love seeing libraries team up with local rescue groups to encourage adoption and reading at the same time! And who would be surprised to see a cat in any independent bookshop? Cats and books just go together, and not just because cats love hanging out in the stacks.
Now, a library in Massachusetts is going all out to embrace all things feline. It’s a celebration for the entire month of March and is bringing long-lost patrons back to enjoy the library.
Worcester Public Library via Facebook
March Meowness at the Library
The library staff at Worcester Public Library found a creative way to tell patrons they want them back. And it’s working!
“We librarians love our cats,” library Executive Director Jason Homer told the local NPR affiliate. “We’re really leaning in on the fact that, all in all, librarians are cat people. … So we thought, let’s lean in on the joke, let’s be part of the joke, and let’s have fun together.”
Due to the pandemic, many people racked up overdue fees or lost or damaged a book or two when their lives got turned upside down. Some had their library accounts blocked. Others still need a little encouragement to return to their local library after so much social distancing for months.
So, for ‘March Meowness,’ the library is forgiving fees for items lost for two months or more, with a few reasonable exceptions. But there’s a tiny catch!
Show the Library a Cat or Honorary Cat
To earn fee forgiveness, the patron must show a picture of a cat, any cat. Then, they can post it on the library’s “cat wall” if they like. If they don’t have a picture, they can even draw any feline, lion, tiger, or any creature they like.
If you read the fine print, you will see it doesn’t even have to be a cat. The library website states: “We will also accept honorary cats, so you may show us a picture or drawing of a dog, raccoon, orca, capybara, or any other animal.”
AI generated image
All animals are honorary cats for March Meowness!
“We take a lot of honorary cats,” Homer told the NY Times. “Any ungovernable animal.”
The Worcester Public Library shares a picture of an unruly kitty via Facebook.
Here’s what the cat wall is looking like so far. Over 400 people have shown the library their cat or honorary cat and are enjoying borrowing privileges again, even after over eight years of staying away.
“The cat wall at the Main Library is looking better and better! Taylor Swift, we’re looking at you!” shared the Worcester Public Library, tagging the famous self-described Cat Lady.
Cat wall at the Worcester Public Library via Facebook
Fee-line Forgiveness
The feline fee forgiveness is just one ameowzing part of March Meowness. According to the MA Board of Library Commissioners, forgiveness of fines for late items is already the rule at 312 of the state’s libraries. But where else in the world but a library can you have fees for lost or damaged books removed simply for showing a cat picture?
Libraries are pawesome and so are cats!
Image via Facebook/ Worcester Public Library, Hall Ways
The library is hosting fun cat-themed programs all month, including events with the Worcester Animal Rescue League and Second Chance Animal Services. There’s also a ‘Cat’s Meow Scavenger Hunt’ with a cat-themed prize.
How much fun is this? And it helps the local rescue find homes for cats too.
Video by WCVB Channel 5 Boston about March Meowness:
