A library scheme in the United States has gone viral after waiving fees in exchange for feline photos.
The Worcester Public Library in Massachusetts has announced that in celebration of "March Meowness", patrons could have their late return or lost book fees wiped by showing librarians images of cats.
The library rules said patrons needed to "show us a picture of your cat, a famous cat, a picture you drew of a cat, a shelter cat, any cat" and fees could be waived.
Worcester Public Library said it understood accidents might occur with books, "and sometimes fees might hold you back from fully using your public library".
The Worcester Public Library also said it would accept "honorary cats" as well: "you may show us a picture or drawing of a dog, raccoon, orca, capybara, or any other animal."
Linnea Sheldon, community relations and communications manager, told 1News the Worcester Public Library has received more than a thousand images of patrons' furry friends, and says the cat wall has boosted staff and patron morale.
"I have never seen our staff so happy, being a librarian in an urban public library can be a challenge at times, so they have really enjoyed so many positive interactions with patrons — as well as so many great mentions from around the world.
"Many of our staff have had family and friends sending them stories from all over because they are excited to know someone who works at the Worcester Public Library."
Sheldon said even patrons who had no fines were contributing to the wall.
"People in the library are drawn to our cat wall. They are giving staff pictures of cats even if they don't have any fees on their accounts. The response online has also been huge."
Worcester Public Library executive director Jason Homer told 1News that he had personal experience with avoiding libraries due to being unable to pay his late fines — but communities need "full access" to all that libraries have to offer.
"Today’s society, filled with mis, dis, mal-information, we cannot waste any time with making sure our community has full access to the library.
"We don’t want people to be afraid to come back to the library, we want them to come and see all the amazing things we do.. there is so much more to your public library than you may know. March Meowness gives us an opportunity to invite people back into the library without a fear of punishment or not being able to afford our services."
Homer said the initiative has sparked responses from "all across the world" in an outpouring he described as an "act of solidarity".
"I am so proud of the work of librarians across the world, who stand for intellectual freedom and democracy in its truest form. March Meowness may seem silly, but in only a few days we have fixed hundreds of blocked accounts," Homer said.
Dog-earred pages and dog-chewed ones too
Sheldon confirmed that fees for books damaged by cat or dog friends would also be waived, under the campaign.
"I myself had to replace a book a couple years ago after my cat decided to chew on it, so we get it."
However, as much as the cats were loved, the Worcester Public Library team was considering what the next promotion might be — and it might not be as much to the cats' liking.
"We have many, many cat people at our library, but also a lot of dog people, so we're already trying to come up with our next promotion that focuses on dogs," Sheldon said.
There were some limits to the scheme: The books must have been borrowed from a Worcester Public Library; the items waived must have been lost for two months or longer; and managerial permission must be granted to patrons who had lost five or more things in the past.
Currently in New Zealand, 89% of public libraries were fine-free for children and young adults, while 53% of libraries have removed late fees for adult borrowers also.
Public Libraries of New Zealand launched a campaign in 2021 to help remove fees from public libraries, with Auckland librarian Louise LaHatte, the project lead for the campaign, saying "fines act as a barrier to all the important things libraries have to offer. If people can’t pay their fines, they stop coming to the library.”
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