Employers usually don’t know when employees are “borrowing” items from work. But in Las Cruces, New Mexico, workers at the Doña Ana County Government Center are welcome to borrow from an on-site library in order to help them de-stress—and it is working out purrfectly!
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No, this library doesn’t loan out self-help or meditation books—it loans out cats! Employees are welcome to come on breaks and bring a kitten back to their workstations. All they have to do is sign the kitty out and back in with the cat librarian (receptionist). The cats are brought in from local shelters across the county.
The innovative idea serves a dual purpose—making employees calmer and happier and getting the kittens used to being handled by people.
A CBS News segment reports that county workers admit that the kittens might be a distraction to their tasks, and their productivity might ebb a bit, but their job satisfaction is way up!
Another employee stated that the cat library “shows the county cares”—about its workers and its homeless cats. This best practice has been very effective; workers are more content, and over 100 cats have been adopted by workers who just fell in love at work.
What about puppies!?
And what about the co-workers who may be allergic to cats…etc?