Library cats

December 13, 2014 5:49 PM

Edinburgh University give library card to a cat. Library cats on Wikipedia. More and more library cats.
posted by yoHighness (41 comments total)

Poor friars. They should change his name to Knox.
posted by notquitemaryann at 6:04 PM on December 13, 2014 [3 favorites]

Library cats that pay my bills.
posted by lyssabee at 6:08 PM on December 13, 2014 [3 favorites]

I feel like we should mention Pangur Bán here.
posted by poe at 6:09 PM on December 13, 2014 [19 favorites]

Not to be confused with LHC Cat or CDC BSL-4 Cat, both of which also include cool personal ID card.
posted by echocollate at 7:00 PM on December 13, 2014 [1 favorite]

I lobbied my library to get a cat - the strife resulting from 'who would in theory be the ultimate owner of said cat' made it a no-go. If we went ahead with it, we'd end with a fat, pampered cat and old ladies stabbing each other in the stacks in a weird feline tontine.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 7:15 PM on December 13, 2014 [15 favorites]

I approve of this.
posted by shockingbluamp at 7:28 PM on December 13, 2014 [1 favorite]

I disapprove of this, primarily because none of these libraries are near me.
posted by jeather at 7:30 PM on December 13, 2014 [3 favorites]

I thought this might be a library where you could borrow cats :(
posted by fallingbadgers at 7:33 PM on December 13, 2014 [23 favorites]

I loved this so much and wish that we could have a cat in our library for stress relief. Heck, this whole post is giving me stress relief right now!
posted by Lynsey at 7:51 PM on December 13, 2014 [1 favorite]

I'm happy to see that two of my customers make the list. My cats deserve at least honorary library cat status, having supervised work on many an ILS.
posted by wotsac at 7:54 PM on December 13, 2014 [2 favorites]

Hey, great. Now the archive of Past & Present smells like cat.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 7:59 PM on December 13, 2014

The article at the first link says the Edinburgh librarians do not require Jordan the cat to present his library card, which is nice of them, but really, where would he carry it?

I'm picturing a tiny cat-sized wallet already stuffed with a mousing/prowling license, family photos, CatsterCard, and a lot of 2-for-1 coupons for Fancy Feast, most of which are expired.

But looking at the picture of Jordan's ID, there's no way it would fit into that tiny wallet. So maybe those smarty-pants university people are not as clever as they think they are?

ETA: I am not a crank.
posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 8:00 PM on December 13, 2014 [18 favorites]

Although having worked in a library with mice I understand the appeal.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 8:08 PM on December 13, 2014 [1 favorite]

Edinburgh University gives library card to a cat

This isn't such a bad ol' world.
posted by Going To Maine at 8:28 PM on December 13, 2014 [5 favorites]

Pangur Bán previously.
posted by Joe in Australia at 8:29 PM on December 13, 2014

I thought this might be a library where you could borrow cats

Like... perusing them? sorry
posted by yoHighness at 8:39 PM on December 13, 2014 [3 favorites]

My campus has three or four cats that I know of, one has his own seat in the security office but earns his keep by preying on the mice and rabbits on campus. Another is a super chilled out puss who is expert at getting let into buildings and finding warm places to curl up all day. I've never seen him move at anytime faster than a saunter and he will happily sir and wait for doors to open - I have seen him go thorough someone's office window and out their door without them noticing. Essentially a campus is ideal for them, lots of green space, car free areas, and full of hundreds of students who aren't allowed pets and always some suckers with a fridge full of ham or chicken or milk.
posted by biffa at 9:40 PM on December 13, 2014 [3 favorites]

My aunt owns a used bookstore and there's a manx cat named Sally who lives there and trolls dogs from inside when it's closed. She'll get visibly upset when it's closing time and people are still hanging around in there, cutting into her dog trolling time.
posted by Gymnopedist at 11:12 PM on December 13, 2014 [13 favorites]

No cats in my library, unfortunately. I'll have to make do with the one I j
Have at home.
posted by evilDoug at 12:17 AM on December 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

Hey maybe there is a library with cats near you.
posted by yann at 1:26 AM on December 14, 2014 [2 favorites]

More importantly - does this give the cat use of the photocopiers?
posted by GallonOfAlan at 4:34 AM on December 14, 2014 [7 favorites]

I see where this is going....
posted by JHarris at 4:58 AM on December 14, 2014

The Heaney translation of "Pangur Ban," which you can find in the post that Joe in Australia linked, is a priceless bit of Zen wisdom. Printed and putting on my wall at work.

And yann: thank you for the library cat map. Looks like Massachusetts dwellers are in luck.
posted by Sheydem-tants at 4:58 AM on December 14, 2014

The college where I work has had a couple of library cats. Squeakers passed away in 2008, and a cat who kept showing up on campus around that time was taken in. He was named Libris by a student body vote. Libris recently retired, along with our head librarian, and they moved off together. There had been more complaints about allergies over the years, so it was probably best. It was really neat to go over to the library and curl up with a book and a cat though.
posted by bizzyb at 7:36 AM on December 14, 2014

If we went ahead with it, we'd end with a fat, pampered cat and old ladies stabbing each other in the stacks in a weird feline tontine.


This is the Alfred Hitchcock spoof that Peter Sellers and Blake Edwards should have made.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 7:40 AM on December 14, 2014 [3 favorites]

MY NAME IS JORDAN AND I WORK IN A UNIVERSITY LIBRARY AND HAVE THREE TUXEDO CATS THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN FOR ME
posted by avocet at 8:06 AM on December 14, 2014 [7 favorites]

MY NAME IS JORDAN AND I WORK IN A UNIVERSITY LIBRARY AND HAVE THREE TUXEDO CATS THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN FOR ME

Somewhere, somehow, Alec Guinness is chuckling.
posted by triage_lazarus at 9:08 AM on December 14, 2014

I shared this with my friend, who is a renaissance British literature PhD who is now in Catholic seminary, and took Jordan as his priestly name.
posted by apricot at 9:49 AM on December 14, 2014

Father Dermott Martin, one of four friars at the chaplaincy, said: “He ignores us when he sees us in the square.

“He ignores us indoors as well unless he wants feeding.”

Cats are indifferent to clergy, unless that clergy is in the service of the cat itself.

Because all cats know that they are god.
posted by quin at 9:52 AM on December 14, 2014 [4 favorites]

I thought this might be a library where you could borrow cats :(

Never happen. Cats are a long-term commitment as I have learned as I type this message with a tabby sleeping on my head...
posted by Alexandra Kitty at 10:09 AM on December 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

RICK
RICK
RICK
NO I CANNOT KEEP MY VOICE DOWN FURTHER THAN IT IS RIGHT NOW
posted by not_on_display at 2:15 PM on December 14, 2014 [7 favorites]

When I visited the Montclair branch of the Oakland Library one day, it turned out to be closed, but there was a cat standing outside meowing to be let in. I called the number on its collar (thinking maybe it belonged to the library, and had accidentally gotten out), and it turned out that it lived a few doors down but visited the library every day.
posted by three_red_balloons at 3:07 PM on December 14, 2014

By all accounts, this cat was a huge PITA while she was in residence (aka, ruled) my little library. Although I believe it was really the librarian who was the problem. The cat-loving staff during Barbie's reign describe being unable to scoot her out of the way because Ruth wouldn't allow it. We still have a cement cat who lives on the hearth and some staff members say they have seen her ghost many times.
posted by Saddy Dumpington at 3:54 PM on December 14, 2014

I love the idea of cats in public places as much or more than most people, but the question remains, what about people with severe cat allergies?
posted by JHarris at 4:57 PM on December 14, 2014

A "Warning, CATS" sign, complete with a skull-n-crossbones-ized Hello Kitty.

well, that's the way we do it at my house...
posted by djrock3k at 5:05 PM on December 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

Metafilter: a fat, pampered cat and old ladies stabbing each other in the stacks in a weird feline tontine.
posted by Autumn Leaf at 5:29 PM on December 14, 2014

Hah, lyssabee, I have a Baker&Taylor bag printed with the Scottish fold cats. I get nice comments on it every time I use it. Also I have fuzzies because B&T were nice enough to give it to me even though I'm actually a YBP user. YBP swag is way more boring, alas.

As for library cats and allergies, it's a conundrum. Our large library (eight floors, four wings) brings in therapy dogs at the end of every term for finals stress breaks and we never have student complaints, but then again we keep the animals confined to two rooms. A library cat would probably have the run of the building--and I can only imagine the number of places said cat would have to get lost! Probably better to have a library cat in a small branch of a public library so allergic patrons can go to another branch nearby.
posted by librarylis at 7:47 PM on December 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

I now have "therapy dogs" going through my head to the tune of Particle Man.

Therapy dogs, therapy dogs
Just what you need for those end of term slogs!
It's wasting time? That's not important.
Therapy dogs.

What if they bark? Or what if they crap?
What if you visit while they're having a nap?
Or what if you're taking a nap instead?
But that doesn't happen.
Therapy dogs.

Triangle cats, triangle cats....
posted by JHarris at 3:48 AM on December 15, 2014 [1 favorite]

Hey! Library Cat! My wife is at Edinburgh Uni and quite often sends me photos of Library Cat lounging in the sunshine. That cat does not give two shits what you think about anything, I'll tell you what.

Fucking love Library Cat.

He has his own Facebook page, but I suspect he doesn't write it.
posted by Happy Dave at 4:22 AM on December 15, 2014 [3 favorites]

Of course he doesn't write it. It's in third person, it's someone describing Library Cat's day. It's all publicity. Library Cat's real Facebook page is probably known only to immediate friends and family.
posted by JHarris at 4:54 AM on December 15, 2014 [2 favorites]

Oh I guess I thought that was a veneer of post-modern detachment from self. But I guess your explanation makes sense too.

Fuckin' Library Cat. He's the best.
posted by Happy Dave at 9:01 AM on December 15, 2014 [1 favorite]