One day in 1974, a black and white tomcat wandered in the front door and immediately changed the atmosphere at the Library. Someone felt sorry for him and fed him. He decided not to leave at closing time. Before we knew, he had a dish, a bed, and litter box in the stacks.
He came and went as he pleased during the day, always returning at night. No longer could the library staff work in the rotunda without the watchful eyes of the Cat supervising the daily routine and most times disrupting the routine for his own pleasure. Someone on the staff named him Elliott and the name remained.
It was sometimes attributed to Joyce Stranger’s novel, Lakeland Vet, whose main character was a cat named Elliott. Others claimed he was named for novelist T. S. Eliot. Whatever, he ruled the library as no one else has ever dared.
He could be found lying on the main desk of the rotunda right on top of the card file and swatting the fingers of the clerk trying to discharge books. He especially disliked the library director and the feeling was mutual. If Elliott didn’t like a patron, he left the desk or growled. If he liked you, he’d lie on the desk and wait to be pampered. He might be found sprawled out on one of the benches under the windows in the teen room “faking” a nap or watching the activities of the library from his perch on the window ledge behind the circulation supervisor’s desk. He’d wait at the elevator for some unsuspecting patron to give him a ride.
Elliott was not a ward of the City, the library staff paid for all of his expenses, including his lobster treats and veterinarian bills. Retired staff members would return to visit Elliott and assist with his care. It was a sad day in the early 1980s when a sign on the rotunda desk announced his demise. Several patrons carried on as if in a funeral parlor saying goodbye to their best friend. Elliott the Cat made an impression on the public and is remembered by many of our faithful patrons through generations. – Cynthia O’Neil
Note from Lichen: Thanks to Mark for providing images of Elliott.
Thank you for the story and the pictures of Elliott the Library Cat.
there is a big Tiger who lives at a pet store near me, but goes out of the store, and up and down the sidewalk. When there was a fabric storein the same shopping center, the Tiger used to be found in the stacks of fabric, and sometimes thought the material would be a good mate,as he flexed and rolled on the cloth. He doesn’t like to be picked up and is very stubborn, so anyone who tried to move him was swatted.
He is a really nice cat and stops to be petted by anyone who wishes to do so. Actually, he stops in front of everyone and waits, and if you stop too, he rubs his body on your leg.
He is the mascot of the stores in the little shopping center.
thanks again for your story.
This was a great story, as a boy visiting the library I often would look for the cat as it was a facination to see a cat at home in such a proper place. – Thanks for sharing! Jim K.
Thank you for recalling Elliot. I thought Elliot was named after the Mr. Carpenter for whom the library is named.
When he was ruling the library, one of the human staff told me that cats are welcome in libraries, because the cats show which books have mites eating the bindings. The books that Elliot paid the most attention to were the books that had the highest number of mites.
look what I’ve just found – an Elliot Cat Necklace !!!
http://www.shop.thingswelove.co.uk/shop/catalog/browse?shop_param=ecid%3D2%26
Wow, that is so adorable. Very cool to be immortalized.