Patrons of the Charles & Ona B. Free Memorial Library are worried about their cat. The Pulaski County Library Board might want to take Belle away.
Make no mistake; Belle is the patrons’ cat, not the library’s. The gray puss belongs in spirit to the people who donate money to cover her expenses, who bring in toys and food, who voted to name her Belle in honor of Ona Belle Free.
People like Elmer and Tammy Roush who live near the library and visit regularly. Elmer was recently laid off, and he uses the computers to search for a new job.
“She is the sweetest-natured cat I’ve ever seen,” Elmer said. “Our landlord doesn’t let us have pets, so this is where we get our fix.”
“I was never really a cat person until I met Belle,” Tammy added.
The couple helped collect about 140 signatures on a petition to save Belle from the library board’s eviction.
The issue first came up at a January board meeting when an interim library co-director reported that some patrons had complained about the cat. The board took no immediate action, but the question of whether a library is an appropriate home for a cat lingered.
Belle has lived in the library for three years. Her litter box and food are in the back office, but she has the run of the stacks. One can typically find her curled up in a sunbeam, sleeping on someone’s lap or resting atop a computer monitor. During children’s story hour, she often settles in with the kids.
“Belle has become part of our library,” Vickie Kidd, another patron, said. “She adds to the warmth and the hospitality that the library offers to the citizens of Dublin.”
Cats and libraries have gone together for centuries. Once upon a time, cats killed the mice and rats that gnawed on manuscripts. Plus there are few things as pleasant as reading a good book with a ball of warm fuzziness on your lap.
Belle even has a compatriot in Southwest Virginia. Purrl Reedmore prowls the the Grayson County Public Library, a white ghost who is great with kids.
If this were a book about a library cat, it would have a happy ending. Belle would melt the hearts of the board. She would live a long, happy life in the Dublin library, watching a generation of children grow up. The sign would remain on the front door: “Please watch out for Belle, our library cat. Please don’t let her out.”
This might not be that kind of story. As friendly as she is, as much as she has touched patrons’ lives, there are legitimate concerns about her.
“Today’s society is so sue crazy,” Library Board Chairman John Freeman said. “I wouldn’t be doing my job for the citizens of Pulaski County if we were to have a potential liability there.”
Belle is too friendly to bite or scratch a casual visitor, but a child getting rough could quickly wind up on the wrong end of her claws. She might also get underfoot and trip someone or cause a severe allergic reaction in a visitor.
The library is cleaned and vacuumed daily, the staff washes the drinking fountain whenever Belle hops up on it to get a drink, and they can close her in the back if someone starts sneezing.
That might not be enough, though. Anyone who has owned a cat knows that fluffs of love find their way everywhere. The library is, first and foremost, a public institution that must serve all residents, including the ones with allergies.
So the board is investigating its risk. “Nothing has been decided yet,” Freeman said.
If it turns out Belle is a lawsuit risk, it will be hard to fault the board for removing her.
The board next meets on April 28 at 5 p.m. in the Dublin library. Citizens can attend and share their views. Belle will likely be on the agenda and maybe in the audience.
With so many fans, Belle will be all right.
Original editorial in Roanoke Times by Christian Trejbal
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