[imagesource:befunky]

Dogs’ days as our best friend seem to be numbered.

Not only did NASA use a cat video to test their new communication system, beaming the feline video 30 million kilometres, but now US libraries are accepting pictures of your furry little friend in place of penalty fees for returning books late.

The scheme, ‘Felines for Fee Forgiveness!’, was set up by Massachusetts libraries as part of their cat-themed month of celebrations called March Meowness.

During March, people who have lost or damaged a book, can bring in a photograph, drawing, or magazine picture of a cat, and get their library cards reactivated. 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.”

Just a few days after the project launched, the library had hundreds of items returned to them, and they now have a ‘cat wall’ where they exhibit images of cats sent by individuals.

Speaking on why they established the scheme, Worcester Public Library (WPL) Executive Director Jason Homer stated, “We discovered that many of our patrons may have misplaced items during the pandemic as schools were closed and we entered quarantine.”

“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.” He went on to say.

There are a few rules for people returning books though. The returned books must be from a Worcester Public Library and not another library, and must have been lost or damaged for at least two months. Also, the library’s managers will need to review whether or not they’ll accept the cat picture if the person has failed to return five or more books in the past.

Some of the other cat-themed activities the library is running as part of March Meowness include a screening of the 2019 movie Cats, a cat-eye make-up tutorial, a “de-stressing” hour of playing with shelter cats, DIY cat crafts, and a scavenger hunt.

Sounds like a purrfect way to get the kids back into libraries.

[source:bbc]