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from The Mini Page © 2015 Universal UclickCurling Up on a Good Book

Cats in the LibraryCats on patrol

For thousands of years, cats have been the guardians of books. In ancient times, books were rare and expensive. Mice and rats ate the

paper and tore up the books to make their nests. Cats protected the precious books from the rodents. Today, hundreds of libraries throughout the world have their own cats. Cats don’t just keep mice away from books; they make libraries into even friendlier places. And libraries offer many abandoned or shelter cats a loving home. In celebration of Library Lovers’ Month, The Mini Page visits a sampling of cats that love libraries and the libraries that love them.

Reading with the animals Two cats live at the Yoakum County/Cecil Bickley Library in Denver City, Texas, along with fish, a tarantula, a gecko, a firebelly frog, gerbils and a red-eared slider turtle. A sister library in the county, Plains Library, has a matching set of all these animals, except for the cats. Instead of cats, Plains has a cockatiel. At first, librarians tried to keep a cockatiel and a cat at the same library, but that didn’t work out well. So now, the bird is at one library, and the cats are at the other one. Pat McNabb, head librarian of the two libraries, said, “The animals are a drawing card for kids.”

Cat burglar “I’m a firm believer that cats and libraries are a good idea,” Pat said. The Cecil Bickley Library cats, Saber, Story and Story’s sister, Penny, were all rescued from a shelter. Saber and Story have now retired and live full-time with Pat. Story loves people. She is also mischievous. Pat said they had to warn all the women that Story would take things out of their purses. If they couldn’t find their car keys, Story had probably sneaked away with them. The more outgoing Story was, the shyer her sister Penny became. “Penny is very loving and likes kids to pet her, but she doesn’t approach them.”

photo by OptimumPX, courtesy of Wikimedia

Stone lions guard the New York Public Library. For thousands of years, people have seen cats as guardians of books and wisdom.

Story (above and right) loved to “help” kids with their homework. The library recently adopted Booky, a kitten someone had dumped in the courthouse parking lot. Booky also loves to be with kids.

photos courtesy Cecil Bickley Library

from The Mini Page © 2015 Universal Uclick

Ready Resourcesfrom The Mini Page © 2015 Universal Uclick

The Mini Page provides ideas for websites, books or other resources that will help you learn more about this week’s topics.

On the Web:• bit.ly/1wNJakH• bit.ly/1KaQtxeAt the library:• “Homer the Library Cat” by Reeve Lindbergh• “Mr. Muggs the Library Cat” by Dave Gunson• “Dewey: There’s a Cat in the Library!” by Vicki

Myron and Bret Witter

C B K P I R D E N O D N A B A O L O I U D A R E T L E H S V M R O O T R E R M C T E P L A M K A V K T R A E I A K K I L U D S T E S Y L A P C T I B U N E E P O R D K O O B E T R A I W T V S L A M I N A D T A B T E S N A I D R A U G O E R L Y Y N A I R A R B I L G N Y E

Words that remind us of library cats are hidden in the block above. Some words are hidden backward or diagonally. See if you can find: ABANDONED, ANIMALS, BOOKDROP, BOOKS, CAT, COMMUNITY, DEWEY, DOG, GUARDIANS, IDEA, KITTEN, KITTY, LAP, LIBRARIAN, LIBRARY, LOVE, MICE, PET, PURR, RARE, RAT, SET, SHELTER, VALUABLE.

Library Catsfrom The Mini Page © 2015 Universal Uclick

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Animal teachers“The reason that I have these

animals in the libraries is that even though we’re in a very rural area, kids don’t see a lot of these kinds of animals,” Pat McNabb said.

“Scorpions and taranatulas are native here, but if people see them, they kill them. I’m trying to educate people that they’re beneficial but may just be in the wrong place when people see them.”

Pat, a former veterinarian technician, said: “When kids come into the library, they learn to treat animals with respect. When the kids pet the cat and that cat purrs, they see the benefits of being kind. Everything in the library is here for a reason.

“There is so little one-on-one communication in our high-tech world today that establishing a relationship with anything on a face-to-face basis is a unique and valuable experience.”

Purrfect Places for Kitties

KittyThe Johnston Public Library

in Baxter Springs, Kansas, was home to a cat named Thomas. He became good friends with Kitty, a neighborhood cat, librarian Betty Burrows said.

When Thomas died, Kitty stopped coming to the library for months. Then she began turning up again. Her owners had to move, and they were afraid Kitty would run away to try to find her way back to the library. They asked if the library would take her permanently.

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Booky and Penny help beautify the Cecil Bickley Library. The cats not only bring kids into the library, but, Pat said, “we have a lot of older people who are in senior citizen homes or living with their kids, and they can’t have pets. They come to the library to see animals and pet the cats. They come to get their cat fix.”

photo courtesy Johnston Public Library

People love Kitty, Betty Burrows said. “She is sweet to every-one.” Kitty still goes outside during the day.

Meet Alan MillsAlan Mills was a folk singer and songwriter whose

name you may not know. But you may have sung his most famous composition, “I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.” He wrote the music to that song in 1952. Rose Bonne wrote the lyrics (LEAR-iks), or words.

Singers Thomas Hellman and Emilie Clepper recently put out a new picture book/CD combination named after his famous song. The book and CD include the title song as well as other songs by Alan Mills.

Alan was born in 1913 as Albert Miller. He grew up in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He began acting in local theaters when he was 16.

As a young man, Alan worked as a newspaper reporter. His hobby was singing folk songs, and he left his newspaper job to concentrate on folk music. He hosted radio shows, including “Folk Songs for Young Folk.”

Alan recorded more than 20 albums and wrote several books on folk music. He acted in several radio plays and wrote a play himself. He died in 1977.

from The Mini Page © 2015 Universal Uclick

These make good after-school snacks.You’ll need:• 5 teaspoons lemon pepper • 12 plain mini bagels• 1 teaspoon paprika • nonstick cooking sprayWhat to do:1. In a small bowl, combine lemon pepper and paprika. Set aside.2. With an adult’s help, halve the bagels lengthwise. Spray each bagel

piece with cooking spray.3. Sprinkle each piece evenly with the seasoning mixture.4. Place pieces side by side on a baking sheet lightly coated with cooking

spray.5. Bake in a preheated 400-degree oven for 5 minutes, then turn over and

bake 5 minutes more. Makes 24 bagel bites.You will need an adult’s help with this recipe.

TM Rookie Cookie’s RecipeCrispy Bagel Bites

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All the following jokes have something in common. Can you guess the common theme or category?

Cindy: Where do cats go to vacation?Cory: The meowtains!

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from The Mini Page © 2015 Universal Uclick

Cathy: What color is a contented cat?Carl: Purr-ple!

Cornelius: What’s a good name for a cat’s house?Charles: A scratch pad!

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from The Mini Page © 2015 Universal Uclick

In a team sport like football, a backup player spends most of his time on the sidelines. He may practice and prepare, but the chance to play may never come. Cardale Jones began the 2014 season as Ohio State’s third-string quarterback. By late November, however, the Buckeyes had lost their top two signal-callers to injury. Cardale’s opportunity had come. And he was ready. Cardale led Ohio State on an amazing three-game run in which the Buckeyes captured a Big Ten Conference title against Wisconsin, knocked off No. 1 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, and then defeated No. 2 Oregon 42-20 for the first-ever College Football Playoff National Championship. During that stretch, Cardale had a lot of help from his teammates, including running back Ezekiel Elliott, who ran for 696 yards and eight touchdowns, while Cardale threw five TDs and ran for another.

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Goodsport’sSupersport

Height: 6-5Age: 22

Hometown:Cleveland, Ohio

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The Mini Page StaffBetty Debnam - Founding Editor and Editor at Large Lisa Tarry - Managing Editor Lucy Lien - Associate Editor Wendy Daley - Artist

Town fights for its catIn 2013, a man complained about

Penny, the cat living in the Swansea Public Library in Massachusetts. He said that Penny would keep away people who were allergic to cats, which was against the Americans With Disabilities Act.

People in the community were upset. They loved Penny and petitioned to keep her at the library. The man dropped the fight.

Swansea librarian Carol Gafford said that after the incident, people came to the library even more, bringing treats for Penny.

There were no grounds for the allergy complaint, she said. “People are allowed to have animals in public buildings. Lots of libraries have animals such as guinea pigs or turtles. People bring in dogs.”

A famous library catOne morning, when it was 10 to

15 degrees below zero, the librarians at the Spencer, Iowa, library heard something in the bookdrop.

Vicki Myron, the head librarian, said a bookdrop is lined with metal, so it was as cold in there as it was outside. When they opened the bookdrop, she said, “On top of all the books in the left-hand corner was a tiny little kitten. He was so hoarse from crying that he didn’t sound like a kitten. I took him out, and he started purring immediately.”

The librarians made a bath in the sink to warm him up. “His little footpads were frozen, so it took a couple weeks before he stopped having trouble walking.”

They named him Dewey Readmore Books. The Dewey Decimal System is one way that libraries organize books.

“He was such a happy guy and loved everybody,” Vicki said. Dewey seemed to know when people needed him. “If somebody had a bad day or lost someone, he’d spend the day on their lap.”

Library Cats Unite Communities

A safe place for everyoneCarol said that sometimes people

with allergies came to the library especially to see Penny because they could not have cats at their home. But they could handle a short visit with the library cat.

“People with allergies know how to deal with them. No one ever complained to us. They’d know not to go too near her or put their face in her fur. People with allergies loved her just as much as everyone else.”

Carol pointed out that “the library is a very big place. It’s not like the library is filled with cats. We have windows that open. We’re aired. It’s never really been a problem.”

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Sometimes people came to pet Penny because somebody else in their house had allergies, so they couldn’t have a cat.

Penny finds a special cat spot at Swansea Public Library.

Look through your newspaper for pictures and stories of cats.

Next week, The Mini Page is about former South African President Nelson Mandela.

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After Dewey died, Vicki Myron and Bret Witter wrote “Dewey the Library Cat: A True Story” for middle-grade readers, two picture books and an adult-level book about this beloved cat.