Jason Homer: Creating an Inclusive, Vibrant Space at the Worcester Public Library
{Jenny Pacillo}
SINCE JASON HOMER took the reins as Executive Director of the Worcester Public Library in 2020, he’s been on a mission to reshape the library into a dynamic, inclusive space for all. “I started in the kind of deep part of the pandemic where we had a field hospital at the DCU, and the Worcester Public Library’s main branch was all studs in the middle of a renovation.” Under his leadership, the library has embraced its role as not just a place for books, but a community hub that celebrates diversity, fosters learning, and welcomes everyone, especially those often left out of traditional spaces. “It’s definitely been an exciting four and a half years, one that was ripe for change. I came in with a lot of ideas to make our library more reflective of our community, more involved in our community. That’s how I really kick started my time here.”
Arriving at the library during the chaos of the pandemic, Homer quickly saw an opportunity to modernize and bring fresh energy to an institution that had long been part of Worcester’s fabric. “I always say that my life is designed to do right by Miss Frizzle, who is my true champion,” Homer smiles, “She told us to take chances and make mistakes and get messy. And so that’s something that I try to do in leadership is to encourage people to take chances and make mistakes and figure stuff out.”
Homer’s leadership reflects the importance of representation, something he strives to achieve through programming, outreach, and community engagement. His efforts have helped make the Worcester Public Library a place where diverse voices are heard, and all community members feel seen and supported. “How I see my job as Executive Director is to analyze the barriers that stand in the way of staff and patrons from succeeding, and to remedy those the best that I can,” Homer explains, “I think a lot of this comes from hearing feedback from the community and hearing feedback from the staff, hearing what isn’t working, or how people aren’t represented, and and trying to move forward, but also always taking a step back to figure out who has a seat at the table, and who doesn’t have a seat at the table, and how we invite them to our table. And you know, libraries forever have operated on this concept that we’re open to all, but that does not mean inviting or welcoming to all. My mission for the staff, especially in my first year and a half, was, ‘how do we move from being open to inviting’, so that people know that they belong in this space.”
At the heart of Homer’s leadership is his commitment to creating a welcoming space for everyone, particularly marginalized groups. He has worked tirelessly to ensure that the library reflects the diversity of the community it serves. “It also signals a lot to be an openly gay man in this space, because, you know, this isn’t performative. This is also making decisions that are informed by my own experience and my lived experience,” says Homer. For him, it’s about authenticity, and his leadership is a powerful example of how visibility and personal experience can drive real, meaningful change. “I think when we think about ways that that signals to people, you know, when you walk into my office, you still see well above my head the open fan from Safe Homes that is a pride flag, and is mounted on my wall. There are two small pride flags in my office, because I want people who come into my office to know exactly who is welcome here, and that’s everyone and I think it’s about modeling behavior and not wavering on it.”
Homer is dedicated to embedding these values of inclusivity and unwavering support into the very fabric of the library’s culture. “I think what is especially important right now is we’ve watched people, organizations, businesses kind of bend the knee to authoritarianism with very little resistance, if at all resistance,” Homer begins, “We watched organizations and companies that had built their brand on inclusivity, give up inclusivity at the first hard moment and for me, it’s about making sure that a community does not see that in its library. If we have to deny the existence of people in order to get funds, we will not do it. If we have to change our messaging to fit the narrative of hate, we will not do it. I think that the most important thing, especially right now, is to be unwavering. Regardless of the people who can exist online, away from the venues and feel like they have full power to say any hateful thing they want to say, because one might not be able to see them. It is now more important than ever to own your values and your principles and your morals. For us, diversity is a value, equity is a value, inclusion is a value, and there’s no dollar amount that would make us not celebrate those things.”
Beyond just offering a safe space, Homer has also been a key player in projects that truly reflect the WPL’s role in the community. A standout project for Homer is the “You Belong Here” mural, which is a stunning example of community collaboration and ingenuity. What started as a lighting initiative transformed into an incredible mural that embodies the library’s commitment to belonging. “This originally started when a consulting firm found that we should have more lighting on Salem Street. I don’t want a lighting project to light up a street to be unwelcoming to people, I want a lighting project that invites people to spend time and reflect on their own experience,” Homer says, “So ultimately art became our priority and it centered on belonging. Because for us, it wasn’t about lighting up a street. It was about making sure that people saw themselves on and in the library.”
Homer worked with the Downtown Worcester Business Improvement District, Creative Hub Worcester and local visual artist Sharinna Travieso to not only execute this ambitious project, but to also ensure that community voices were included in the process. They held workshops with Veterans Inc, Southeast Asian Coalition, BAMSI and Girls Inc. The “You Belong Here” mural stretches 90 feet across the library’s outside wall along Salem Street. This art installation is not just for show, it’s a reminder that everyone, no matter who they are, has a place at the library.
The WPL’s reach extends well beyond Salem Street, their Meow Madness initiative quickly created global attention. Launched as a playful response to the pandemic’s impact on library services, Meow Madness was designed to encourage people to return overdue books, particularly those lost during the chaos of lockdowns. But instead of a simple “forgive your fines” campaign, Homer and his team turned it into a viral sensation by integrating an unexpectedly fun and universally beloved element: cats. “We took this simple idea rooted in equity, the idea that we want people to come back to the library,” Homer explains, “We want to forgive the lost books that they lost from no control of their own. And in many cases these books were older, and we were going to replace them anyway, so we turned that into, how do we market this to the world? Because we want as big an impact, we want as many community members to see it as possible. But our community doesn’t get their news in one place and doesn’t get information in one place. They get their information all from all over the internet. So we had to figure out how to go after the internet. And what resulted was that weird, internationally viral March Meowness.”
The event exceeded even the highest expectation, and folks from around the world eagerly joined in on the lighthearted campaign. “I got to be on the news in England, in Japan, in South Africa, in India and Germany, and it was the weirdest time to be a librarian ever, because I spent almost all of my time talking about cats and libraries, what a bizarre thing,” Homer laughs, “But ultimately, what we were doing was something that was really intentional, and we were promoting our common goal in equity and hiding the vegetables, as it were, in this funny internet viral sensation. We were convincing people of their responsibility for a collective support of their own community. We had people from all over the world say, ‘I’ll send you a picture for someone else’, and if that isn’t what community is all about, I don’t know it is.”
Beyond the viral fun, March Meowness also reinforced the library’s core values of inclusivity and connection, while recognizing that you need to meet people where they’re at. “We were able to engage with the world about libraries in a way that no one had done before,” Homer adds.
The March Meowness campaign led to an Honorable Mention for Marketer of the Year from Library Journal. Homer was also excited to share WPL’s Community Relations and Communications Manager Linnea Sheldon was one of the recipients of the 2025 Thomas S. Green Public Service award from the Worcester Research Bureau. This honor recognizes unsung heroes in public service, who have gone above and beyond for their communities.
“Oftentimes librarians aren’t regularly celebrated for our work. We are constantly working to improve our community, and we don’t usually get the flowers for doing so. So it’s really appreciative that the city recognized that the staff said ‘we have to do something about equity’, and were able to get the flowers they so rightfully deserved. It’s also very exciting because we have won another award that I can’t talk about yet, that will be announced at the end of June,” Homer hints.
The Worcester Public Library was also recently named a finalist for the National Medal for Museum and Library Service, an honor that reflects the library’s innovative, community-centered approach. Homer himself was awarded the Safe Homes Public Service Award, an acknowledgment of his tireless advocacy for LGBTQIA+ youth and his ongoing commitment to fostering safe, inclusive spaces for all. “Well, I will say that I was immensely surprised one day when I had to return a phone call from someone at Open Sky, and I was not really sure why Open Sky would call me. I was deeply honored when in that conversation, I learned that I was receiving the Public Service Award for Safe Homes. I think, you know, part of me had a first feeling of, ‘what on earth did I do to deserve that’, and as I reflected on it, I still have yet to answer that question for myself. But I think ultimately, what it showed me is that visibility matters and authenticity matters. I try to live my life and experience this world in a way that would be useful for LGBTQIA+ youth to see elders doing, so I just try to live authentically and openly. It was really cool to get that honor from Safe Homes. A bunch of my friends and my chosen family came to witness me receive the award. It was super cool.”
For Homer, the journey is just beginning. He remains as passionate as ever about making the Worcester Public Library a place where people of all backgrounds, identities, and experiences can come together, learn, and thrive. “While I think traditionally, people might see the library as books. Of course, we have books. We will always have books,” Homer states, “Books are an important part of our life blood, because they’re rooted in information but if we’re going to move on to lifelong learning and cultivating knowledge and championing intellectual freedom, we have to also get into the hard stuff that says, you know, not everyone comes to the table with the same deck.”
His leadership isn’t just about managing a library, it’s about creating a space that truly belongs to everyone. “We’re really always rooted in the idea that we are first and foremost designed for information, and that can take many forms, and that it has to meet people where they are,” Homer explains, “We redid our purpose this past year, and changed it from a mission statement to a purpose statement that just simply says, ‘As a heart of the community, we strive to nurture lifelong learning, cultivate knowledge and champion intellectual freedom.’ The way that we accomplish that is through celebrating our diversity and is through making sure that we educate our community on the needs of the various different people that make up our community.”
With a strong vision for the future and an unwavering commitment to equity, Jason Homer is making sure that the Worcester Public Library isn’t just a place to check out books, it’s a place where everyone can feel seen, heard, and valued.