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W
E can now add “saving money” to the list of useful things cats do for humans, according
to an article in the New York Times. The reason? A Massachusetts library is accepting photos of cats instead of charging people for lost or damaged books (or other library materials). It means that anyone showing up to Worcester Public Library with a sob- story about the book they borrowed can whip out an image of a cat and walk out scot-free.
And the good news is that the March Meowness campaign doesn’t require an actual photograph of a cat, as evidenced when “one cat-less seven-year-old boy, who never returned a Captain Underpants book, had his library card reactivated after the staff gave him paper and crayons to sketch one”. And since it’s inception at the start of the month, around 400 accounts have been unblocked. (
https://tinyurl.com/y4t6zs56) So, after adding this to the list of useful things a cat does for people, Mediawatching can exclusively reveal the full list below:
1. Save you money at Worcester Public Library, Ma, during March 2024
2. … er?
Next to Ascot, and a project to teach 11 local students an insight into film- making. Cube Video worked with Durning Library Trust to deliver a project that taught the 11- to 14-year- olds film production skills – from script writing to filming and editing – and the star of the short movie was the library itself (
https://tinyurl.com/23mk8ujh). Geoffrey Donovan, Chairman of the Durning Library Trust, said: “We’re proud to have supported this initiative, which saw our local students having a chance to make a film. The Ascot Durning Library is a fantastic local asset and it’s great to see young people being engaged in the community and working with the library service.”
As part of this year’s World Book Day celebrations, two lucky travellers were given a unique opportunity to spend the night in a hidden library in St Paul’s Cathedral. The overnight stay was advertised on Airbnb as “a magical space” adding that “the guests who stay here will be the first to officially sleep inside the Cathedral since the St Paul’s
March 2024
Tuk tuks will be delivering book books.
Watch protected the building during World War II.”
The deal was on offer for just £7 for the night and included a meal at a local restaurant, breakfast, a guided tour of the St Paul’s and the chance to “lose track of time in the pages of Holly Jackson’s The Reappearance of Rachel Price, John Grisham’s Camino Ghosts, and Kevin Kwan’s Lies and Weddings before they hit the shelves” (https://tinyurl. com/ycyjmt6c).
In a new approach to mobile libraries, Portsmouth Council will be delivering books by tuk-tuks. The city’s library service has ordered two new electric tuk- tuks to help with deliveries and outreach
and the first has just been handed over. The book-book-tuk-tuks were bought using part of a £100,000 grant from Arts Council England’s Libraries Improvement Fund. The remaining funding is due to be spent on installing meeting spaces and office pods at Central and North End Libraries. David Percival, library and archive service manager at the Portsmouth City Council said: “We are thrilled the first tuk-tuk has arrived in Portsmouth and is ready to use to promote library services in the city. We have waited quite a while for these vehicles to be designed and manufactured as it’s not like going to your local car dealer. They are real labours of love, and the conversions are done by a very small team.” (https://tinyurl. com/49xpk9ty)
Finally, children at an Oxfordshire primary school have joined forces with children in Kenya to create a book to raise funds for a community charity in the West African country. Cosmic Cats was written jointly by pupils from St Swithun’s Primary School in Kennington, Oxfordshire, and Kenya’s Mumias Township Primary School and will be sold through the Nasio Trust charity (
https://tinyurl.com/22ufm4e3), which has been helping children in the Kakamega region of Kenya for 20 years. Trust founder Nancy Mudenyo Hunt said the library will be life changing for students who currently have “no access to books, computers or even a basic space where they can sit and read”. IP
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