SUSAN LOESCH

CATS IN THE STACKS

Sometimes it is good to sit back and just listen to what my students have to say. Markissha was one of my sixth graders this year, but she and I go back a long way, to when she was a little kindergartner. She is often quiet, but when she speaks she has a lot to say.

It is Markissha who designed the Accelerated Reader t-shirt last year, the one with the caption “Big Footsie says, ‘AR is Purrr-fect!’” And it was Markissha who reminded us all many times this year, when we had one of the new library cats here, “But, remember, we can’t ever replace Big Footsie.”

It is Markissha who is providing our Cats in the Stacks today. Her class created a Middle School Newspaper, and this was her article.

Arkansas School for the Blind Middle School
Newspaper of the Year

The Mixed Up Emotions in the A.S.B. Library
By: Markissha T.

Going to the library at school is always fun but it can be sad. We had three library cats that died. They will be remembered, but can never be replaced.

Those three library cats were named: Big Footsie, Alex and Snuggle Bunny. Big Footsie was the best out of all of them, because of his work with Accelerated Reader.

We have this reading program called, A.R. which stands for Accelerated Reader. It is where you read a book and if you pass it you get points. Within A.R. there is a program called Footsie’s favorites. If a book you pass is a Footsie’s favorite, you get a piece of gum and you also get pictures taken with a library cat.

Footsie became head library because he was Piper’s assistance. Piper didn’t like being a library cat, but Footsie did. He was a very nice cat. He liked baked chicken. He also liked to knock books down. Footsie liked to be petted. He loved to come to school. All Ms. Loesch had to do was say, “Big Footsie time for school,” and he would get in his carriage.

Snuggle Bunny had a very short life. She was very friendly. She had very soft whitish fur.

We thought Alex would be the head library cat for a long time because he had been Footsie’s assistant. He had thick yellow fur. He liked to play. I fed him treats one time. He liked those. It was a shock when he died.

Library cats are very important to our school because the library cats encourage kids to read. They also teach kids how to care for animals and they encourage kids to do well on other things as well as the reading. When we took that big ACTAAP test all the cats were asking of us was to try hard and do our very very best just like they do in A.R.

When we read A.R. books they aren’t always Footsie’s favorites but if they are not you still get credit and we also have A.R. rallies where we find out what everybody’s percentage is and they get prizes.

That’s my favorite of A.R and when we have A.R. rallies it brightens the cats’ days.
I love the cats and that is why I sometimes have mixed up emotions in the A.S.B. library.

SUSAN LOESCH
CATS IN THE STACKS

Not long before school was out we received our long-awaited yearbooks.

Every year our library cat is pictured in the Faculty section, having sat for a school picture just like all the students and staff. Footsie became a pro at it, with school pictures that ranged from serious to one looking like a mug shot!

I love to look back at previous yearbooks and read notes written to him. In his last yearbook Makayla told him, “I love you so much, big guy. You make my heart feel happy.”

Alex did himself proud this past fall on school picture day, and in the new yearbook his picture leads off the Faculty section.

Every year I buy a yearbook, put a sticker on it saying that it is “Big Footsie’s Yearbook”, and ask all the kids to sign it.

When I put it on the counter this year, Mary looked at it a little and then asked me, “What are you going to call it this year?”

I didn’t understand at first what she meant, and she said, “Well, we don’t have Big Footsie any more, so we can’t call it Footsie’s yearbook.”

We talked about it a little and I asked her opinion.

“We could always call it Alex’s yearbook if you think that is a good idea,” I told her, “Or we can call it something else. You can decide.”

So Alex’s yearbook it is, and I printed out a sticker to go on the cover to say that.

As always, lots of the kids wanted to sign the book. Their entries ranged from simple signatures, to Lea’s “I will always remember and love Alex. And all of the library cats,” written with hearts surrounding the words.

And there was Trinity’s heartfelt message, “Alex and Staff, Staff thank you for stepping up when Alex had to leave us. You have all done a great job and are all very loved. Alex, my sweet orange kitty, I have and will always miss you. You were one of the best library cats and will be missed by me forever. I love you.”

I had dreaded seeing a yearbook without Big Footsie in it, but he was there, too.

On a page near the front of the book was a photo of the elementary kids gathered at our school sign on Remembering Big Footsie Day last September.

The sign read:

“We Remember Big Footsie.” And the accompanying caption read “Big Footsie lives on in the memories of all the lives he touched. Forever will he be loved.”

And next year’s yearbook? Who will be in it and what will we call it?

Our English teacher who does our yearbook has assured me that if Shadow and Barney share the Head Library Cat job she will guarantee us two spots in the Faculty section rather than our usual one.

That is an offer that just may be too good to pass up.

SUSAN LOESCH
CATS IN THE STACKS

It is time for one of our year-end traditions, Accelerated Reader reading posters — which have turned the library into a photography studio!

Every year Big Footsie picked books in the AR program to become “Footsie’s Favorites.” For each of these that a student reads and passes the quiz on, their name goes on a paper cat that goes on the wall and they get a prize from Footsie. By this time of year the wall is pretty impressive, with colored cats stretching all the way back into the stacks. Footsie always liked to get up on the shelf and check them out.

We talked a little this year about whether, without Footsie, we should continue to call the books Footsie’s Favorites, and we decided that we would keep the name.

When questioned about how Footsie can still select books I tell the kids that he uses his “library cat magic” to let me know which books he chooses.

At the end of the year, each student who has read Footsie’s Favorites gets to create a reading poster. They choose which library cat wil join them in the photo, and they come up with their own caption.

I make these into big posters, which are handed out to the students at the last AR Rally of the year. This year we have 24 students who have earned posters; the number of Footsie’s Favorites read ranges from three to a whopping 73, with a total of more than 600!

Students have had the choice of Tank, Barney, Hexie, Shadow, or, if I already had pictures with them, Alex and SnuggleBunny, and all six cats will be featured in posters!
Yesterday I put a pink bandana on Barney because it matched what a couple of the girls were wearing. I totally meant to take it off before Mary or Trinity saw it, but I forgot until Mary came in, saw Barney, and sasked, “OK, what’s with the pink bandana?”

Off it came. Fast!

Today, Tank started out posing like a pro. By mid-morning, though, I was having to resort to feeding him treats to get him to stay put.

Or could it be that he just has me treat-trained?

There are always poster captions like “Reading is purrrfect” and “Library is fun” as well as the more thoughtful “Reading takes your mind on special adventures” and “Let reading take you around the world.”

One of this year’s captions is for sure destined to be my all-time favorite.

One of my fourth graders wants his picture taken with one-eyed Hexie when she comes tomorrow, and this is his caption: “It doesn’t matter if you have 1 eye or 2, reading is great!”

SUSAN LOESCH
CATS IN THE STACKS

“Ms. LOESCH!”

When I hear that tone of voice from one of my students I know I’m in trouble. It was Trinity.

She then spoke to Shadow. “Shadow, look at you. Are you so secure in your manhood, wearing those flowers?”

Oh, no. I know just what she is talking about. The collar. The one that Alex and I got on our trip to PetSmart. The one that matched Alex’s ID tag…and is decorated with white flowers.

“Ms. Loesch, WHY did you put flowers on Shadow?”

“Well, um.” I tried to explain what is obviously another kitty fashion faux pas on my part. “The collar is blue…”

“I know,” Trinity said. “But flowers? Shadow, she dresses you in flowers and you can’t even say anything about it.”

I promised to head to Petsmart to see if I can find a Harley collar for Shadow.

Personally, I think he looks cute in the flowers!

Luckily, Shadow was unaffected by my blunder and spent his day happily eating treats, helping students with their work and posing with some of my seniors.

The kids must be feeling nostalgic; many are carrying around cameras, wanting to capture these last few days of their time at Arkansas School for the Blind.

This time of year always makes me feel a little nostalgic, too.

As Terry, who is graduating this year, held Shadow I couldn’t help but think back to when he was in the 4th grade and Big Footsie was new to our school and they met for the first time.

The thought makes me smile.

SUSAN LOESCH

CATS IN THE STACKS

Barney was on the job first thing this morning and he has kept busy all day. After all, he has a lot to learn about being a library cat even if he does sport the title “Acting Head Library Cat!”

When he is ready for a break he heads to the stacks for a snooze, much like Alex did last fall when he first took over the job. It wasn’t long, though, before Alex was hanging out with us all day, and I imagine it will work the same with Barney.

He has already discovered Big Footsie’s prized green frog, with the bald spots Footsie created over the years by “kneading” the frog’s head. Mary spent some time brushing Barney while he was on the frog and pointed out to him some spots on the ears that still have some green “hair” which needs to come off.

He was enjoying the brushing so much that I don’t think he was listening.

Mary is fast becoming Barney’s buddy.

He plays Follow the Leader with her as she moves around the library and he was on the counter trying to help her on her work-study job today as she checked in books.

Helping? Maybe not so much!

The fourth graders came in to check out books. I wonder what Barney was thinking as one of the kids showed him the book on rottweilers that he was checking out. We already know what he thinks about live dogs.

He met Chopper, a teacher’s guide dog, in the hall one day, and every hair on his body stood on end as he growled and hissed.

The kids had to have a group picture, and then Barney moved to the tables to help the secondary kids. He has already developed the habit of standing and sitting on Braille books as the kids try to read!

Every day Barney is here he seems a little more relaxed and outgoing.

Everyone thinks he is really campaigning hard for the head cat title to be his permanently and we think he would do a great job.

This weekend he will get a chance to work an outdoor gig. Feline Rescue and Rehome will have our spring fundraiser sale this weekend and Barney will be there.

If you are in the area, we hope you will drop by the sale at Kavanaugh and N. Cedar and meet him!

SUSAN LOESCH
CATS IN THE STACKS

And then came Barney! Our second candidate for Head Library Cat is in the building.

Barney is a huge orange tabby who was a stray headed to a kill shelter a few months ago. Luckily Feline Rescue and Rehome had a foster home opening and now Barney is auditioning for a new job.

He was nervous at first, until Patrick, Lea and Hope spent a whole period brushing him. That is all it took for him to become comfortable.

“You will like it here,” they told him. “We are all nice.”

Barney  then settled down and is taking to the job really well, even sitting in my lap to watch Jumanji along with the first graders.

By his second day he was sitting in Alex’s bed on the front desk, waiting for the 5th and 6th graders to come.

“Barney?” one student asked. “We might have to find him another name!”

It didn’t take long for Makayla and Brianna to have Barney sandwiched between them in a tight hug. They wanted to know if we can call him Alex the second.

Sure. I’m fine with them calling him anything they want to.

Some of the students had asked me for pictures of Footsie, SnuggleBunny and Alex so they could make posters.

Barney planted himself on the table while some read, some worked on posters, and he got brushed.

I fired questions at the kids while we did a review for their ACTAAP exams which are this week. Wow, maybe they really were listening during all these library skills lessons! They fired correct answers right back at me.

I had gone on a sentimental “field trip” one evening earlier in the week.

I couldn’t get the Harley-Davidson cap, which Alex had tried on at PetSmart, out of my mind. I kept thinking of it as Alex’s cap and wishing I had bought it.

So I walked through the store, taking the same path Alex and I had so happily taken such a short time ago, and ended up in the D-O-G department. There had been only one size small cap that day and it was still there, complete with little orange Alex hairs inside.

We tried it on Barney Friday, and he looked really cool.

Since he is so calm, I put a harness and leash on him, and the Harley cap, and we went outside to join the kids and staff in our annual Health Walk.

What a great job Barney did, posing with the kids and resting calmly over Mr. G’s shoulder – a spot which was a favorite place for Footsie and Alex before him.

And so things change but life goes on.

We are still enjoying the sweet smell of Alex’s flowers here in the library, and I am writing thank-you’s to friends who have made memorial donations to Feline Rescue and Rehome in his honor.

Tank and Barney are on duty now. Whether or not either of them ends up as our Head Library Cat, I am sure that both will be part of the Library Cat staff.

SUSAN LOESCH
CATS IN THE STACKS

The unthinkable has happened. There is no easy way to tell Alex’s friends. Allie became sick Monday with what all signs pointed toward being an inner ear infection. His condition worsened, and Wednesday morning, about 6 a.m., he died in what was his favorite place to be in the whole world – my arms.

We are waiting for test results hoping that they will shed light on what happened.

It is unbelievable to me that Monday morning he was in the Library asking for the Fancy Feast we’d had such fun shopping for at Petsmart, wearing his new bandana and eating treats from Big Alex’s hand. Wednesday he was gone; it happened so fast that my mind can’t grasp it. My heart is broken.

I didn’t come to school yesterday; I couldn’t even talk to anyone. How in the world was I going to tell my students about this? First Big Footsie, then SnuggleBunny and now Alex. Healthy Alex, who was never sick a day in all six and a half years of his life. It just couldn’t be.

But this morning it is becoming real.

I have students here who love Alex, and I have to be strong for them. First period, and nobody came in the library. Thank goodness.

I emailed a few staff members to let them know. I knew we would all need a kitty to hug today, so I brought Tank, who was rescued from a feral colony where he was living, tame and neutered, probably abandoned and with severely infected eyes.

Alex’s vet did surgery on Tank’s eyes to correct the problem, and I had planned to bring him next week once the stitches were out. He is big and laid-back; I pictured him as a perfect assistant for Alex.

Second period. In came one of my fourth graders.

“I guess this is it,” I thought. “I can’t put it off any longer.”

He found his book to check out, brought it to me and asked, “Can I go back and see Alex?”

“Alex isn’t here today. Tank is.”

I brought Tank out, and he acted as if he had been around kids all his life.

“So where is Alex?” Deep breath on my part. “Tank may be coming now instead of Alex. Alex got sick Monday and died yesterday.”

My student looked at me a minute and then grinned, “I know, it is an April Fools joke, right?”

No such luck; his little face fell. “So is that why you couldn’t be here yesterday?”

I told him that Alex and Big Footsie are probably playing together. He seemed OK before he left, and I hope he really is.

Soon the 5th graders came up.

“I’m so sorry,” said Brianna, as she gave me a big hug. “It hurts when you lose a friend that you love.”

It really does.

She and Brandon and their teacher met Tank.

“I think he likes me,” said Brandon. Tank must have been around kids in his previous life; he really does seem to like them. I took Tank’s picture with Brandon and Brianna. I just don’t know what else to do.

As the day wore on, more students and teachers came in to tell me how sorry they are and how they will miss Alex. One student, upon hearing about Tank’s eye surgery, said, “Well, Tank is sure in the right place; most of us have already had eye surgery.”

Hugs and tears came all day. I am not the only one with a broken heart. Big Footsie and Alex are here with us in spirit, but Tank’s being here for hugs is saving us all today.

SUSAN LOESCH
CATS IN THE STACKS

I brought something new to school with me this morning! Little Rock artist Rene Hein just completed a portrait of our Big Footsie in oil and it is now on the front desk for everyone to admire.

Mary and Lea showed it to Alex. He seemed to be appropriately impressed, and he rubbed the edge of it over and over to mark it with his scent. Was he possibly thinking, “Welcome back to your library, Footsie?”

Then all of a sudden he jumped down.

“He is leaving to go and cry,” said Mary. “He misses Big Footsie so much. Just like we do.”

Turning back to the picture, the girls especially loved the way his eyes were captured perfectly, and so do I. We could almost feel Footsie looking right at us.

Later in the morning, my second graders were here. As they lined up at the desk to leave after library skills and a Dr. Seuss story, Happy Birthday to You!, read in honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday, they stopped to pet Alex.

Almost in unison, when they saw the portrait, they whispered, “Awesome!”

They meant the portrait, but I think Alex thought they were talking about him!

He proceeded to roll and switch his tail and hit Bailey in the face with it.

“He’s making me a moustache,” she laughed! She then gave him a big kiss. That Alex is pretty awesome.

SUSAN LOESCH
CATS IN THE STACKS

Some of my favorite times in the Library are when it is fairly peaceful and I have kids in here that I don’t see as often and there is time to just visit with them.

Most of the time Alex is part of that conversation if not the main topic.

Today, Alex was in his bed on the front desk, decked out not in a bandana but in the tie he got for Dress-up Day during Spirit Week. His last place trophy was prominently displayed close by.

One of my students stopped by the desk to hang out and asked if that was Alex’s Homecoming Parade trophy.

Assured that it was, (I didn’t have to mention last place; everyone knows that!) my student went on to tell me his idea to make sure Alex doesn’t end up in last place again.

“You know,” he said, “Alex can win next year if you dress him like a lion and put him high up on a throne. Let the hair on the end of his tail grow out and let the fur on his neck grow out into a ruff. If he does that and he wears his tie he will get lst place.” I bet he would, too!

My student went on to ask, “Did Big Footsie ever win a trophy?”

No, Footsie hadn’t.

“Then I bet he’d be proud of Alex and say that he taught him everything he knows.”

Big Footsie would no doubt be proud of Alex; all the rest of us are, too! Maybe I’ll go on and give him that second can of Fancy Feast he has been asking for all morning.

SUSAN LOESCH

CATS IN THE STACKS

What IS it about a cat’s tail that makes it such an object of fascination for my very youngest students?  When they visit with Alex they will hold his tail way faster than they will feel his whiskers or even begin to pet him.

My kindergartners were here for a story hour and a visit with Alex last week, and sure ‘nuf when he sat down with them it was all hands on the tail! I remember Jordan, while she was in preschool, meeting Footsie for the first time, immediately grabbing his  tail and gazing at it like it was magic.  She is a grown-up kindergartner this year and now Alex’s tail amazes her.

One of her classmates,  after spending lots of time admiring Alex’s tail, went on to pet him and said to me, “I feel his bones. Why do you feel bones on the outside of his body?” I pointed out how he could feel the bones in his wrist and fingers and spine and we decided that it was much the same as feeling Alex’s bones.

This morning I asked my all-knowing second graders why they thought the little kids were so interested in Alex’s tail.

The best they could come up with was “because it is long.”

They are too grown up, I guess, to remember how much they liked to hold kitty tails when they were little.

This afternoon I had the kindergarten again – and asked them the question.

They all shouted out at the same time, “Because it’s soft!”

Well, there you have it. How could I not have known!