An Interactive Map of Library Cats - Neatorama

Way back in the day when I was in library school in Ohio, there was a slowly dying tradition in rural libraries of hosting "library cats." These were cats that lived full-time in libraries, most public. Well, Gary Roma of Iron Frog Productions has created a worldwide historical archive of library cats and organized them around an interactive map, giving the names, locations, and dates of residents for individual cats. It's a work in progress, so if you know of a cat that isn't mentioned, be sure to let him know.

Link

Image via flickr user TVLshac

Comments (13)

No library dogs, huh?

- likes libraries, loves bookstores, is allergic to cats

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Earbox,

I found one library dog in the research I did for my film about library cats ("Puss in Books: Adventures of the Library Cat"). It was a very large dog that came to work each day at the library in Norfolk, CT in the 1990's.

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May the tradition never die out.

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ahhh, people forget how terrible cats are for those who have allergies to them =(

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I have not found the list yet. Does it include Dewey?

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My town has an awesome little independent record store that feels like an old bookstore inside (crammed shelves, handwritten signs, people sitting on the floor going through boxes), and they used to have a "record store cat" who was always there, sleeping on top of the CDs. You'd have to nudge him aside if he was on the section you wanted to look at.

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When I was in Naples once, there was a cat sleeping on a blanket atop some furniture in front of an antique store. He must have been the antique store cat.

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My old school had rats in the library

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I just finished reading "Dewey: The small-town library cat who changed the world" and found it a quick and charming read. You can find information and pictures of Dewey on the Spencer Library website at spencerlibrary.com/deweybio.htm.

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Getting caught up on posts, obviously I'm way behind. Library school is keeping me from my feed reader. John, did you go to library school at Kent?? I just started there in January. :)

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I just finished reading "Dewey, the Library Cat" and loved every word. I could barely see the words on the last few pages due to my tears. I have had a number of cats over the past many years. One looked a lot like Dewey and was ill at the end of her 19 years; I cried on the vet's shoulder when he had to end her suffering.

Many thanks to you,Vicki, for writing this wonderful book.

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Hey, does anyone know where I could possibly find a copy of the Puss in Books: Adventures of the Library Cat documentary? My daughter loves Dewey, and would love to see it...

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I have just finished "Dewey: The small-town library cat who changed the world", too. It is a hauntingly wonderful book, though inevitably very sad at the end. As well as being the story of a remarkable cat, it is an interesting case study of a public library and its role within the community.

The library cats map is at http://www.ironfrog.com/catsmap.html. I cannot tell how recently it has been updated.

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