SUSAN LOESCH

CATS IN THE STACKS

End of Course exams and the Jr./Sr. Prom…what a week here! The result was lots of extra kids in the library, lots of attention for the library cats, and me finding my new best friends…the Rugrats!

Barney was here on prom day. The seniors were not really interested in their teachers’ assignments, and who can blame them? Barney got lots of petting from kiddos who had been in elementary school when Footsie first arrived on the scene and had grown up with him.

Mary put Footsie’s pink bandana on Barney. “Thank you for being a real man and wearing pink, she told him! None of the guys here will wear pink.”

I finally dug out some Rugrats videos which had just been donated, had the seniors pull beanbag chairs into the video room and watch.

Ah, peace reigned, at last, and the older kids had a ball doing “little kid stuff!”

On Friday I brought our final applicant for a Library Cat position, Shadow. More than one person remarked that catching a quick glimpse of him, for a second it seemed that Big Footsie was back.

Shadow is about a year old, found as a stray kitten. Feline Rescue and Rehome helped his rescuers take care of him, supplying food, litter and medical care. When they moved where they could not have cats, Shadow became a FuRR kitty.

I had older kids first period, quiet and tired from the prom. We sat at a table with Shadow and he acted as if he’d been here for years, being held, sitting in laps, posing for pictures, and just basically lapping up the attention.

We took his picture smelling Mary’s prom roses.

Then came my younger students!

“He looks like a Shadow.” “He really looks like Big Footsie only more so!” “We need to call him Big Footsie Two, or Big Footsie Returns.” ”He has to be Big Footsie the Second, and Barney is Alex the Second.”

From my fifth grader, Brianna: “He interacts with everyone. He’s perfect. He’s gonna be a camera star!”

Brianna has been in the library a lot this week observing the library cats and how they interact with everyone, information for the class newspaper article she was writing on the cats. She is moving out of state after today, and her whole class was full of energy when they came for Library Skills. So, once again, out came the beanbags and the Rugrats.

“I had never seen the Rugrats before yesterday,” I told them.

“Ms, Loesch, you haven’t SEEN them? You’re weird! But we love you anyway,” said Brianna.

The video held everyone’s interest, and the group was quiet. From now on I think the Rugrats and I are gonna be really tight!