Dewey, the Small-Town Library Cat

Dewey was one of those rare cats who became internationally famous while he was still alive. Vicki Myron, the librarian who first found him as a kitten, freezing in a book return bin, tells not just the story of Dewey, but of the revitalization of a struggling midwestern town.

Dewey was probably the first cat to be adopted through a library book drop chute. When Vicki Myron, the library director of the Spencer (Iowa) Public Library, followed the noise one freezing January morning, and found a scrawny, weak, orange kitten, her heart sank. It didn't take long, however, for Dewey's magical charm to capture her heart. It wasn't much longer before the entire town warmed up to Dewey, and for the rest of his life, he was considered "Spencer's Town Cat." Dewey's name was the result of a town vote, and with a few thoughtful edits by Myron and the library staff, he became Dewey Readmore Books.

And read, the public did. Dewey, by nature or by cunning, had a people-pleasing personality. He had a way of wrapping himself around the heartstrings of even some curmudgeonly male patrons, who would soon find themselves walking around the library with a cat draped over their shoulder in the famous "Dewey Carry."

Word spread quickly, and Dewey's fame reached the press - first all over the U.S., then internationally, as even a film crew from Japan visited for a day, as Dewey performed for the cameras. Visitors took hundreds of miles of driving detours to drop in on Dewey, who greeted each of them as old friends. Dewey was truly an ambassador of love for Spencer, and was never happier than when surrounded by people.

Dewey's fetish for rubber bands may have eventually led to his undoing, as he suffered from lower bowel problems most of his life, eventually leading to megacolon. He and Vicki Myron were bonded for life, though, and she held him when he eventually passed on at the ripe old age of 19. Dewey's obituary ran in over 200 newspapers. His cremated remains are buried in a garden just outside the library window.

I highly recommend this book to all cat lovers, especially those with a "Dewey" of their own.