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Library Cat Rehired! Browser, The Mascot Of A Texas Town’s Library, Gets Job Back After Internet Complains

By Aaron Homer
Published on: 04:06 PST, Jul 2, 2016

The Library Cat has gotten his old job back! Browser, the official rodent hunter and unofficial mascot of a small Texas city’s library, who was fired last week, has gotten his job back after the internet collectively came to his defense, NPR News is reporting.

You may recall that last week, as previously reported by The Inquisitr, that the town council of White Settlement, Texas, voted to fire Browser and evict him from the public library of the community of about 16,000 people.

Browser got his job in 2010 after the White Settlement Public Library decided it needed a way to deal with a rodent problem. They quickly adopted a small, grey kitten, described as “ornery” on the library’s website, and put him to work.

Browser quickly helped the library get the upper hand (upper paw?) on the library’s rodent problem. And even though he wasn’t particularly well-behaved (the library describes his favorite activity as bolting for the door whenever a visitor opened it), his antics endeared him to library patrons. He’d sit in staff members’ favorite chairs and refuse to move; he’d stretch out across computer keyboards when patrons were trying to “browse” the internet. He even showed up at the library’s twice-weekly GED classes, earning himself an honorary diploma.

Throughout his career at the library, Browser became a beloved fixture there, and even became a central part of the library’s fundraising efforts.

“Every year the library sells a calendar full of Browser’s pictures or creates some other fund raising event to help support the posh lifestyle of this precious kitten. As you can see, he’s always a good sport and lets us pose him for a perfect shot.”

So why did the White Settlement town leaders decide to fire the friendly feline?

The answer to that depends on whom you ask. Councilman Elzie Clements, who led the effort to get Browser fired, painted the firing as a simple matter of propriety, saying that city property and city businesses are no place for animals. Another council member, Steve Ott, said he was concerned that Browser may be keeping people with pet allergies out of the library.

But Mayor Ron White said the reason for firing Browser was much more “petty” (his words): he claims that Browser was fired because a city worker wanted to retaliate because he or she couldn’t bring a puppy to City Hall.

Regardless of the reason for Browser’s firing, the internet was going to take the story of a beloved mascot being fired from his job lying down. After over a thousand messages poured into the town from all corners of the world, the council voted Friday to give Browser his old job back.

Browser is not the first cat to become the unofficial mascot of a public library. Back in January 1998, a kitten was abandoned outside the book drop of the public library of Spencer, Iowa. Badly frostbitten and covered in dirt, library staff took pity on the poor animal and nursed him back to health. Eventually, the cat, lovingly named “Dewey Readmore Books” after a contest to choose a name for him, became a beloved fixture of the Spencer Public Library.

Besides being the beloved mascot of the town library, Dewey became a symbol of hope for the small farming community suffering through hard times. He died in 2006; he was cremated and his ashes buried on the library’s grounds.

Do you think Browser the library cat should have been allowed to keep his job?

[AP Photo/John L. Mone]

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