One evening Dewey slipped out the back door of the library, and for 4 days the staff and townspeople hunted everywhere for him. Eventually he came back, dirty, frightened and rather scuffed up. No one really knew what harm or horror had befallen Dewey during his escapade, but he never again went out an open door. [1]
In Spencer, Iowa, USA, it was a frigidly cold Monday morning on 18 January 1988 when staff arrived to open the Public Library. They soon heard a small noise coming from the after-hours drop box, the opening of which was only a few inches wide. Being metal, that box was even colder than it was outside, and there in a corner of the box was a near-frozen tiny eight-week-old male kitten.
To librarian Vicki Myron, the kitten was the most pitiful thing she had ever seen, so thin she could see every rib and feel its heart beating and lungs pumping. “The poor kitten was so weak it could barely hold up its head, and it was shaking uncontrollably. It opened its mouth, but the sound which came two seconds later was weak and ragged.”
Myron nursed the kitten back to health, and named him Dewey, after the library classification system, adding “Readmore Books” to complete his full name. The library decided to keep him as a library cat and his story first received publicity a week after his discovery.
Dewey was instantly at home in the library and was allowed to roam and explore at will. He had a friendly manner that was nearly impossible for people to resist, frequently snoozing on the shelves, snuggling in the laps of readers, and attending meetings and story hours. He spent weeknights alone in the quiet, dark library, and on weekends and holidays Myron took him home with her. He was given the title of Staff Supervisor and was on duty by the front door each morning greeting staff and patrons. It helped that he was handsome, with a luxurious orange-and-white coat and huge golden eyes.
With the help of Dewey, Myron set out to capture the interest of everyone who came to the small library and hopefully make them a little happier. For 19 years he returned the affection of the townspeople, amusing them, enchanting them, and rubbing against many hands in gratitude for their caresses.
Dewey passed away on 29 November 2006 after being diagnosed with several conditions including arthritis and stomach cancer. His obituary ran in more than 270 newspapers around the world. In 2008, Myron published Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World, written with the help of Bret Witter, which reached number one on The New York Times Best Seller list of nonfiction books.