Worcester Library Forgiving Fees In Exchange For Cat Pictures

WORCESTER, MA — The Worcester Public Library will offer fee and fine forgiveness in March to anyone who presents an image of a cat or kitten (or even "honorary" felines) to a librarian.

That's right: any image. That means if you never returned a copy of Kurt Vonnegut's "Cat's Cradle" or the Stephen King movie "Cat's Eye," you could theoretically use the items to get your fines cleared.

The "March Meowness" promotion will run the entire month, and coincides with cat-themed events.

Here's more from a WPL news release:

Do you or a loved one have fees on your library card for lost or damaged Worcester Public Library (WPL) items? We want you back at the library, so we are offering fee forgiveness during the month of March for lost or damaged WPL items.

All you need to do is show us a picture of a cat (any cat), and we will forgive your fees. The picture can be of your cat, a famous cat, a picture you drew of a cat, a shelter cat - any cat, and we will forgive WPL fees on your library account.

We understand accidents can happen, and sometimes fees might hold you back from fully using your public library. We hope that you will join us as we celebrate March Meowness at all of our Worcester Public Library locations. Here are the rules:

• Items must be owned by WPL (we cannot waive fees from other libraries)
• Items waived must be on lost or damaged items that are at least 2 months old;
• Items cannot be part of the Library of Things
• Accounts with 5 or more items will need to be reviewed; 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

Items are not guaranteed to be waived. Forgiveness will be given at the discretion of library staff.

We will accept honorary cats as well, so you may show us a picture or drawing of any animal — a dog, raccoon, orca, even a capybara — and receive forgiveness.

“We found that many of our patrons may have items that were misplaced during the pandemic as schools shuttered and we entered quarantine,” said WPL Executive Director Jason Homer. “We wanted to get everyone back in the library, and using our resources, and also wanted to create a really low barrier to get these fees forgiven. Celebrating March Meowness brings a fun component to fee forgiveness that resonates with both patrons and staff alike.”

WPL also invites the public to celebrate March Meowness with us as we present cat- themed events and programs all month long! Stop by our kick-off at the Main Library on Saturday, March 2 from 11 a.m. - 1p.m. Then join us during the rest of the month for a cat scavenger hunt, learn to do a perfect cat-eye, DIY your own cat castles and cat toys, paint a leopard, de-stress with cats from WARL, or enjoy an audio-described screening of “Cats.” Find all the fun goings on at mywpl.org/cat-month.

The Worcester Public Library has been fine free since 2020, which means there are no
late fines on most WPL owned items.