Dewey's unusual arrival

Spencer is a town with a population of about 12,000 in the American Midwest state of Iowa. For nearly 20 years it was home to the best-known of American library cats — Dewey, or to give him his full title Dewey Readmore Books. He arrived on a freezing cold January night in 1988, via the book-return chute. Library staff, finding him next morning after hearing his whimpering, and having warmed him up while he purred the whole time, decided they would like to adopt him as library cat. The idea was approved by the board of trustees and the city council, so he was neutered and vaccinated and became the new resident. He quickly made friends among the library staff and patrons, and also the wider public, some from a long way off, as they learned of his story. Donations were made for his food, and he received 'city employee discount' from a local veterinarian when medical attention was needed.

Life at the library

Dewey blossomed into a magnificent cat, as can be seen from his 'official' portrait (right), taken when he was about 2 years old. Over the years he provided Spencer Library with plenty of publicity via the local newspaper, national magazines, in books, on postcards and on Sioux City TV. He was also the star of a video about library cats, Puss in Books: Adventures of the Library Cat (1997), and his fame spread throughout America and beyond, especially after he was chosen as 'January cat' on a nationwide calendar. The library maintains a bio page for Dewey, and also a slideshow of images. (See more Dewey links below to his website, videos and various news articles.)

Throughout his long life Dewey loved 'his public'. He greeted patrons at the front desk, regularly attended every library meeting, and even enjoyed functions such as summer 'family fun evenings' in the presence of 250 people or more. He hated it when the library was closed, and would welcome Vicki Myron, library director and his principal carer, with a 'wave' in the mornings when she arrived. Staff kept a camera handy to record his antics and adventures over the years.

In the final year or so of his life his age began to take its toll, said Vicki. He became very thin, had arthritis in his hips and back, and of course slept more than he used to; he was diagnosed also as having hypothyroidism, which added to his frailty. People were asked to pet him only on the head and shoulders, and not to pick him up; however, he still carried out all his duties and was as friendly as ever. Curiously, with old age came a taste for non-cat food, especially cheeseburgers and roast-beef sandwiches!

A passing – and a tribute

The library and its patrons were hoping that Dewey, their cat with the huge personality, might be around for a bit longer and perhaps reach the age of 20, but it was not to be. He had his 'official' nineteenth birthday — a grand age for a cat — on 18 November 2006; but shortly afterwards he started behaving in an uncharacteristic way by hiding away. An X-ray showed that he had a stomach tumour. Added to his other ailments and bearing in mind that his quality of life seemed much diminished and he was likely to be in pain, it was felt kinder to let him go. It fell to his greatest pal, Vicki, to make that last sad journey to the vet's with him on 29 November 2006. 'It was heart-wrenching,' Myron remembers. 'I called all the staff and they came out to say goodbye; it was one of the most difficult things I have ever done, but I knew I had to do it because he was suffering and I'd never let him be in pain.' His obituary appeared in hundreds of newspapers; the following link is to a local one.
Sioux City Journal article, 1 Dec 2006.

We understand that Dewey was cremated, and his ashes buried in front of the library. A granite memorial stone (left) marks the spot and commemorates his life, with the inscription, In Loving Memory of Dewey Readmore Books: World-Famous Library Cat. Meanwhile a bronze sculpture of Dewey, by Heather Beary, has been created for Spencer Library (right), and there are many more photos of it here.

The Gathering monument

Several years before his passing, we note that an image of Dewey featured on a remarkable monument to the past, present and future of Spencer to be found in the town's East Leach Park (left). It was created as a mosaic of broken tiles and is named The Gathering: Of Time, of Land, of Many Hands. Designed by Nina Smoot-Cain and John Pitman Weber, it was begun as a millennium project and completed in about 2 years. Some 100 people worked on assembling it, ranging in age from young children to citizens in their nineties, and many others were associated with it. Surf Iowa has a fascinating and colourful website about the design and structure of the mosaic where, under the heading 'West Wall' about halfway down the page linked to, the image of Dewey can be seen. We show an enlargement here (right); and this page shows the completed structure. The monument is reputed to be the 'second favourite attraction' in Spencer — but we don't know what the first is!

Books and a movie

Dewey's life story, interwoven with that of Vicki Myron and aspects of life in small-town Iowa, was published on 24 September 2008 in the USA. Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat who Touched the World, written by Vicki with Bret Witter, was published by Grand Central Publishing of New York. It received enthusiastic reviews: read some of them and more about the book using the following links:
     USA Today: Dewey the library cat is back on the shelves
     Library Journal: LJ Talks to Dewey Author Vicki Myron
Our own review can be found in the Feline Folios section.

The book has also been published in the UK and now in some 30 other countries, having been translated into various languages. (Referring to messages she receives, Vicki says, 'Sometimes I can't read a word, or even recognise the language!'). It topped the New York Times best-sellers list for several weeks and remained on the list for a total of nearly nine months. By June 2009 almost a million copies had been sold.

A planned series of children's books is now a reality: Vicki Myron and Bret Witter have completed three of them, and the first, called Dewey ... There's a Cat in the Library!, was launched with a signing at Clay County Fair in Iowa on 12 September 2009 before going on sale throughout the US. The book is being promoted by Toys 'R Us and others, as well as being available through all the usual bookstores and websites. The second book is a middle-grade version of Dewey's story, to be published in spring 2010; and the third is a children's picture book to be ready for Christmas 2010. Vicki will be touring to promote these books and do signings, but not on the same scale as for the first one.

A movie about Dewey is going ahead, with Meryl Streep due to play the part of Vicki Myron. Scriptwriter Pam Gray visited Spencer for a week in May 2009 and it was originally hoped to have the film finished by Christmas 2010, but this now seems unlikely — see link below to Spencer Daily Reporter article dated January 2010. A page here may be worth checking for future progress.

The visitors keep coming

While Dewey became famous in his lifetime and many people visited Spencer to go and meet him, it seems that visitor numbers have increased greatly since his death and the publication of the books about him. In July 2010 it was reported by the Sioux City Journal that people make pilgrimages from all over the place to see where Dewey worked; see the full article, and from the page there's a link to a short video about the library and its visitors.

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Page

Vicki has another cat: the little orange-and-white kitten was found on a snow-covered road near Spencer not long before Christmas 2008 and, although Vicki had intended to wait longer before taking on another pet, 'I fell in love instantly,' she said. The kitten was named Page and is thriving. Page has been to visit Spencer Library, but he will not take Dewey's place as library cat. At 7 months old he already weighed nearly 15 pounds (about 6 kg), so he's a big boy! When Vicki is away touring he stays at a friend's house, 'so he thinks it's normal to have two homes', she says.

Photos: Charlie Niebergall/AP (left), Spencer Daily Reporter (right).
For more on Page, see articles at the Spencer Daily Reporter and Sioux City Journal.

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Further reading

• Dec 2007: Myron readying to bid adieu to librarianship
• Nov 2008: 'Dewey' hits No. 1 on NY Times list
• Jan 2009: No more pets at Spencer Public Library
• Feb 2009: Spencer native donates Dewey sculpture to library
• May 2009: Dewey movie on fast track
• Jan 2010: Spencer: The 'one place to get all things Dewey' - includes more recent film news

• May 2005: The book on Dewey: He's one cool cat
• Oct 2008: Fans swept up by Dewey tale
• Aug 2009: Spencer woman to pen second Dewey book
• Dec 2009 (video): Children learn Dewey's indelible story
• Jul 2010: Thousands 'check out' home of late library cat - also links to a video, with Tim Gallagher of the SCJ taking a library tour to 'retrace Dewey's steps'

NB: Dewey has also left us his Job Description and Rules for Running a Library.

Read about more American Library Cats in our Featuring Felines section