Wisconsin Library Forgives Damage Fees When Patrons Show The Dog That Ate The Book

It all began with March Meowness.

When Worcester, Massachusetts, Public Library forgave late fees by asking patrons to post photos of their cats, no one expected the idea to explode into something bigger.

That clever campaign inspired others, this time appealing to dog lovers. One library had already eliminated overdue fines, but damage charges remained, so staff debated how to encourage book safety at home.

Middleton Public Library settled on a playful solution: show us the culprit and we will simply waive the damage fee.

When My Dog Ate A Library Book

Truly, it happened, and not in a metaphorical way.

Someone’s dog actually ate the very book they had borrowed from the local library. Readers in Middleton, Wisconsin no longer worry about overdue charges, since the Middleton Publi