Articles in Featuring Felines are written by
Patrick Roberts
Copyright © 2003-12 Purr 'n' Fur UK

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   KONSTANZ UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
Konstanz

Sammy was born on a farm near Stockau in early April 2001. Two young sisters had been looking for a cat to take the place of one who had died from a tumour, and they took Sammy home when he was old enough. As he was a farm cat they agreed that he should be able to go outside, and so a cat-flap was installed and soon Sammy was making good use of it. He had a collar with his home address and phone number, which was just as well as before long he was getting lost in different parts of Konstanz and the girls had to keep going to pick him up from various places. As time went by it seemed the University was the place he favoured most, and by the end of 2003 it had become obvious to the sisters that he did not want to live in their house any more.
     So Sammy became the 'Uni-Katze', the university cat, with his favourite place a basket in the library. But he roams all over: on the desks, on the roof ... he knows about lifts and can even open doors! He has become a much loved university institution and is well cared for, even at holiday times when the place is closed. Sammy has his own extensive website (in German) with numerous images here, many taken by students, and access to a collection of short YouTube clips. There's also a Picasa gallery of pictures of him.
Many thanks to Jonny for his valuable help in researching Sammy's story.

   ICELANDIC LIBRARY CATS
Reykjavik

A few years ago there were at least two library cats in Iceland, but neither of them is still there; they have not been replaced and we don't know of any others.
     Funi was resident cat from 2004 at the National and University Library of Iceland in the capital city of Reykjavik. Reference librarian Stefania Arnórsdóttir told us that Funi disappeared several years ago and was very much missed. We found this image of him (upper); it doesn't look like a very comfortable sleeping spot, but clearly he found it satisfactory!
     Also in Reykjavik, at the Solheimer branch of the City Library, there was Klói, seen here (lower) sleeping in a more suitable place for a library cat. He was at the library in 2007 and is said to be 'no longer around', but we have no further information.

   CENTRAL LIBRARY OF ARCHITECTURE
Turin

A female black-and-white cat arrived at the Biblioteca Centrale di Architettura in the Italian city of Turin in 1993 — and just never left. Rossella Fiorentino of the Library writes that Prunella had tremendous empathy both with the staff and with the environment, and was a 'really good librarian'. Her death in August 2002 caused great sorrow; she was much missed but, says Rossella, 'she is still in our hearts'.

   ŁÓDŹ PUBLIC LIBRARY
Łódź

In 1996 one of the library patrons of this library in Wilenska Street, in Łódź — Poland's third-largest city, situated in the centre of the country — brought in a small black-and-white cat. He soon became a very popular resident, found the best places to sleep, as cats always do, and his needs were met by donations from patrons and library staff. He was named Misiaczek, which is hard to translate but apparently means a very nice kind of bear. He was the library's pride and joy; children especially loved him, and a number of new patrons became members of 'the library with a cat' as a result of his presence. Interestingly, when officials were trying to have Kubus removed from the Tychy library (see below), protesters quoted the existence of Misiaczek of Łódź in their protest letters as a reason for keeping Kubus.
     Misiaczek sometimes went for a 'walkabout' to nearby shops, and on one occasion disappeared for several days. Searchers were not able to find him, but he eventually returned of his own accord, having presumably completed whatever he was doing! Sadly, Misiaczek (also affectionately known as Niuniek) died in August 2011, aged about 15 years. There are some more photos of him at the library's website, and also an obituary, although of course the site is written in Polish.
Very many thanks to Bartlomiej in Poland for taking the trouble to research this story for us.

   TYCHY PUBLIC LIBRARY
Tychy, Gorny Slask/Upper Silesia

A kitten was found by an old gentleman in 2003 as a small, wet ball of fur on a patch of grass not far from the small public library in Tychy, a city in the southern part of Poland called Gorny Slask, or Upper Silesia. The man took the kitten into the library, where the staff took him in, cared for him at their own expense and began to look for a home for him. No one came forward to adopt him, so it was agreed that Kubus, as he was named, should be kept as library mascot. He started his work and soon became a large and well-fed cat, becoming everyone's favourite pet; people would visit the library just to see him rather than to borrow books! He especially liked to lie on the shelf with the philosophy books.
     After about six years of this happy state of affairs, some anonymous person wrote a letter complaining about all the problems caused on their last visit to the library by their allergy to the cat and, as it is a public place, wanted Kubus removed. The director had to make the decision to sack the cat. He was taken home by one of the staff, but became very unhappy and would hardly eat or drink.
     As the story became known, library patrons started a petition for Kubus to return, which eventually gained 600 signatures. Then an article in the leading newspaper about the situation caused a huge public outcry, leading to a new petition online, TV and radio interviews, and backing for the cat from well-known writer Jagoda Betkowska. Eventually the president of the town responded with an official statement in which he wrote that Kubus was 'not guilty'. So he was reinstated to his position. When our Polish correspondent Bartlomiej Blaszkowski phoned the library early in 2011 to ask about Kubus, he was told that the cat couldn’t come to the phone just then because he was sleeping!
     'Kubus' is a diminutive of Kuba, which in turn derives from Jacob and is a common pet's name in Poland.
Very many thanks to Bartolomiej for all his work in helping us to research Kubus' story.

   CHILDREN'S LIBRARY #4
Mykolaiv

This library in the city of Mykolaiv, a major shipbuilding city in southern Ukraine, has a resident cat called Julia. She arrived as a kitten in 2006 and had huge ears and eyes, leading to the name of 'Batman'. However, when it was found that she was a female, she gained her rather more lady-like present name. Library director Larisa says Julia is not just a pet, but a co-worker and is quite intelligent, with 'a character like velvet'. She has been featured on a very popular children's TV programme called Readland.