Libraries and cats go together in good partnerships. Finding cats in libraries is not uncommon, but this cat has moved herself into a university library on her own!
“Her name is Fräulein Sinner. This tabby-and-white girl should, in theory, be expert in fields such as child care, environmental issues, languages, democratic social networks, and artists’ roles in political change.
Why? Well, when biologists, educational specialists, or sociopolitical researchers at Hildesheim University in Germany are teaching, this campus cat will roam the hallways and join the human students. Her favorite place? The cozy armchair in front of lecture hall three, where she secretly learns and listens to everything that is being taught.”
Cats and libraries – a legendary duo! CMLE has even included a book about a library cat in one of our monthly book groups. But Dewey the Library Cat was adopted by the Spencer Public Library back in 1988, and today, the attitude towards resident library cats is changing.
This article from American Libraries Magazine discusses the large decline in the number of library cats of the past several years. The main reason for this seems to be the problem of allergies among patrons.
However, many library cats remain in their libraries, and the library workers have taken steps to accommodate visitors that suffer from allergies. Some libraries offer to walk books out to patrons’ cars if their allergies are too bad to allow them into the library, or they wipe down each book with a Clorox wipe. Good air circulation and regular vacuuming help too.
But if having a cat in the library is just not going to be possible, there are other ways to incorporate them into library PR. The article talks about one library worker in PA who features her own cats on the library social media on weekends – often in costumes.
Does your library have a real cat, or even stuffed cat, as a mascot? Maybe you incorporate animals in a different way? We’d love to hear about it!
As a library system, filled with library people, we like to read books. So let’s get together and read books and chat about them!
We have set up two monthly book groups on Goodreads, where we have a forum to discuss our books. If there is interest in holding in-person book group sessions at host locations, that would also be great; but we want it to be accessible to everyone, so we will always have an online discussion where we can all share in the reading. (If you want to have an in-person monthly meeting, either at CMLE Headquarters, or in another location – email Mary !)
We will have two copies of the paper book to share, if you want to borrow one for a few days. Email Angie to get on the borrowing list!
The first group will be have a professional theme; here we will read books that may be helpful to you at work. They may be specifically library-oriented, or may be books that would be relevant to the work we do in our libraries. We have a preliminary list of books that might be interesting to our members; and we encourage you to suggest books that we all might enjoy!
For our October book in this group, we will be reading “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” by Marie Kondō. “Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you’ll never have to do it again.” Can this help you at work?? We will have to read the book to find out how!
Below is a fairly long video (42 minutes) Kondo gave at Google. She, and her translator, work through her entire system of sorting and keeping objects in the house.
And here is a short video, with just music in the background, where Kondo helps a woman organize her bookshelf:
They may be aspirational, but the results look good!
Our other book group will be a fiction book group, with readings we do for fun. There may be a theme of “librarian as main character” through the books we read, but that will not be a requirement. As library people, we all hear too much of the comment “it must be so fun to sit around and read books at work all day;” and it’s amazingly frustrating!! But of course, most of us really do like to read books! So we can have this time to enjoy a book together each month.
In October, we will be reading “Curiosity Thrilled the Cat” by Sofie Kelly. “When librarian Kathleen Paulson moved to Mayville Heights, Minnesota, she had no idea that two strays would nuzzle their way into her life. Owen is a tabby with a catnip addiction and Hercules is a stocky tuxedo cat who shares Kathleen’s fondness for Barry Manilow. But beyond all the fur and purrs, there’s something more to these felines.”
This book does not come with videos, but we have a couple of other ones for you to enjoy:
Who wouldn’t want a job as Kitten Librarian?? (not technically a library; but still a great idea!)
And these important helpers in the Huron Library in London, Ontario are clearly making an important contribution!
Stacks the Library Cat has a pretty significant fan club at the New Castle library in Pennsylvania
Both of these books are available in paper, eBook, and audio formats; so pick a format that works for you! Content is the important part; flexibility of format is just a bonus.
You’ve probably seen the famous cats Baker and Taylor on the brand’s merchandise. But do you know anything about their backstory?
The new book The True Tails of Baker and Taylor chronicles the memories of the two beloved cats, and details their personality and behavior. The two cats were brought into the library world with a purpose – protect the Douglas County Library in Minden, NV from a rodent invasion triggered by a recent remodel. They became community favorites, but their popularity skyrocketed when the supplier company Baker & Taylor named the cats as the brand’s official mascots. They even ended up with a fan club!
The book also investigates the positive influence of animals on humans, especially in an office environment. Animals are a good reminder in this time of constant technology to take a step back and live in the moment.
Cats and libraries – a legendary duo! CMLE has even included a 
