This library lets you pay in cat photos in exchange for fees

The Worcester Public Library in Massachusetts has introduced a new policy the "Feline Fee Forgiveness" program to attract people to read, even if they can’t afford it, the New York Post reported.

In exchange for library fees, readers can now pay using cat pictures.

The program under the library's "March Meowness Campaign" aims to reduce barriers for people wanting to read.

The executive director of the Worcester Public Library Jason Homer said, "People are struggling and sometimes choosing between paying for that book, or buying $30 worth of groceries,"

"And, people do have priorities. So we want to come to them with kindness, with forgiveness, and say, 'Just be part of our community.'"

In 2020, the library waived fines for overdue books. According to Homer, many people lost their books during the COVID-19 lockdown, and not wanting to pay fines, they stopped coming.

He said, "We end up losing people. Realistically, those fines did nothing for the library, and it wasn't a money-generating piece. It was more like a sitting debt that was never paid."

The idea stepped up after Homer noticed that many people had stopped coming to the library due to fines and fees, so his staff and he thought what do book lovers love. 

He said, "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?'"