Monday, November 1, 2010

Cats and Dogs Living Together

As a librarian in a small library, I have to maintain control over “stuff” all day long, so as not to accumulate too much of it. There just isn’t enough room in my 3,000 square feet of library nirvana to have more than one copy of every book in the collection. If it’s checked out, you will have to add your name to the list of readers anxiously waiting to find out why the girl got the dragon tattoo in the first place. Or we can order your coveted title from another library whose square footage vastly exceeds mine and which is capable of housing more than one copy of “Sh#t My Dad Says”.

Stuff is everywhere and a library is no exception. Being a librarian, it is inherent for me to organize stuff, categorize it, clean it, fluff it, label it, file it, and shelve it. But occasionally, I seek to borrow stuff from my patrons to display in our vintage oak display case next to the circulation desk for the sheer entertainment value other people’s stuff brings to this rural library.

It started with a conversation in the library one day recently—“does anybody have anything they collect that could be displayed here at the library?” People threw out ideas about things they collect—matches, pitchers, mugs, quilts, baseball cards, cats. Wait, cats? You collect cats? What kind of cats? And thus our monthly display of people’s collections was born. The first display was a collection of cats—porcelain, wood, fabric, brightly painted cats, waving cats, Christmas cats, pictures of cats, calico cats and the piece de resistance, the crazy cat-lady action figure!

As my patrons started visiting the library during the cat display, conversations flourished about how patrons felt about cats, dogs, how much stuff or collections they have in their own homes. You get the idea. I made a point of saying that I did not think I had enough of any one item in my own home to constitute a collection, except perhaps books. This all created discussion, camaraderie, rivalry from dog people--I witnessed a weird new form of community right there in the library.

And that is really what this library is for, to create a community of readers who can look past the differences of others and connect on the cat level, or the dog level, or whatever collection level my patrons may enjoy sharing with others. I look forward to the dog collection in November and know that the cat people will be there, nodding patiently as exuberant dog lovers discuss man’s best friend and all the while, knowing above all else, cats rule. (Posted Nov. 1, 2010)