Meeting “Friday” the dog at the library yesterday got me thinking about pets at the library. Remember the bestseller, “Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat That Touched the World”? It was written by Vikki Myron, the library director at Spencer Public Library on 21 East 3rd Street in Iowa. Dewey was dropped in the book return (how evil is that?) on a cold night in January in 1987. The librarians took him in, gave him a warm bath and gave him a home. He lived at the library for 19 years and became a furry celebrity.
Part of Dewey’s job description included: reducing patron’s stress levels, inspecting packages, attending meetings, climbing in book bags and generating overwhelmingly positive PR for the library. What a life! There are great pictures of him on the library website.
Even though Dewey died of cancer in 2007, sales of his postcards continue to bring in revenue for the library. Dewey’s page on the website led me to a world map of library cats at the Iron Frog Productions website. The map lists 808 library cats around the world...Russia, South Africa, Croatia...seems like cats and books are an omnipresent phenomenon, a common positive force across the globe. It's not surprising, cats are uniquely suited to the library environment: quiet, careful, calm and, if you get the right one, happy to curl up on your lap while you read away the afternoon. If you get the wrong one they are happy to lie in the middle of your newspaper or chase your pencil across the page, but they still make you laugh. Cats comfort people and encourage us to step back from our personal frenzies and relax. Maybe this is the key to bringing people back to the library, offering unconditional pet love...who doesn’t need a little more free love? People could stop by, get their fix, and maybe check out a book or two while they’re at it. Library dogs will have to wait for another day...they’re a whole different kettle of fish.
Even though Dewey died of cancer in 2007, sales of his postcards continue to bring in revenue for the library. Dewey’s page on the website led me to a world map of library cats at the Iron Frog Productions website. The map lists 808 library cats around the world...Russia, South Africa, Croatia...seems like cats and books are an omnipresent phenomenon, a common positive force across the globe. It's not surprising, cats are uniquely suited to the library environment: quiet, careful, calm and, if you get the right one, happy to curl up on your lap while you read away the afternoon. If you get the wrong one they are happy to lie in the middle of your newspaper or chase your pencil across the page, but they still make you laugh. Cats comfort people and encourage us to step back from our personal frenzies and relax. Maybe this is the key to bringing people back to the library, offering unconditional pet love...who doesn’t need a little more free love? People could stop by, get their fix, and maybe check out a book or two while they’re at it. Library dogs will have to wait for another day...they’re a whole different kettle of fish.
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