Browser was first adopted by the White Settlement Public Library in Forth Worth, Texas in 2010 to help out with a rodent infestation. Since then the friendly cat has become the library’s mascot.
His face is even on the library’s annual fundraising calendar.
However, he was given the boot when the city council decided his services were no longer needed and that animals shouldn’t be allowed in city facilities. But that was before the Internet and locals totally freaked out about it, prompting the city to reverse its decision.
Mayor Ron White said that the council’s decision seemingly came out of nowhere.
“I think it was a suspicious motion, to begin with, and I don’t have a good answer for it, but I don’t support it,” White told ABC News. “I think Browser should stay right where it is.”
In addition to fending off rodents, White says Browser serves an invaluable purpose.
“He helps children read,” White said. “Little children will come into the library and they’ll read to Browser.”
Lisa Rogak, co-author of “The True Tails of Baker and Taylor: The Library Cats who Left Their Pawprints on a Small Town… and the World,” said that cats make the library a more welcoming and cozy place.
“Anything that encourages people to visit a library, whether the Internet, an out-of-print book —or a cat— is to be encouraged,” she told ABC News.
Though one of the arguments against having a cat in their city library was to protect those who are allergic to cats, White says that the air purifier in the library gets rid of 99 percent of allergens in the air.
Since the council’s initial decision, White said he got more than 1,500 emails from places all over the world like Australia, Canada, Iceland, France, Germany and other countries in support of Browser.
The city even collected 1,000 signatures for a petition to keep Browser.
The councilman who introduced the law to ban Browser, Elzie Clements, is the same councilman who introduced a motion to bring him back.
“I don’t think they understood what they had done to begin with and how it would affect everybody,” White said.
White says he is glad the ordeal is over and that Browser is back to protecting the city’s books.
“It was a waste of time and money,” said White. “It was ridiculous to do that and they did it without thinking ahead. It was absolutely wrong to begin with.”
Brower, the Internet, and the citizens of Forth Worth, Texas can all rest easy now that Browser is back on the job.
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