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Chubby the cat is a purr-fect library visitor

14:57 03 May 2012

Zoe Girling (7) reading to Bungay library visitoir Chubby the cat.

Zoe Girling (7) reading to Bungay library visitoir Chubby the cat.

Archant © 2012

Quietly strolling between the aisles of books he doesn’t cause much trouble.

Books Chubby may enjoy:

•Puss in Books

•The Cat in the Hat

•A Tail of Two Kitties

•Once Kitten, Twice Shy

•A Bridge Too Fur

•Of Mice and Men

•Kitty Kitty Bang Bang

•Paw and Peace

In fact most of the time he just enjoys a sit, curled up on the chairs, listening to others read.

But this visitor of Bungay Library doesn’t have a library card and certainly won’t be taking any books away with him – because he’s a cat.

The black cat has been visiting the library, in Wharton Street, for about a year, and library manager Amanda King says he has become a very familiar sight.

“It used to live quite locally so it used to pop in and have a pat, but then its owners moved quite a way away,” she said.

“It’s not here everyday but several times a week it comes in and makes itself at home, often going upstairs and sitting on a sofa to be patted and petted.”

She added: “It really ferries attention, coming inside and sitting on newspapers and on computer keyboards.”

The library staff don’t know the black cat’s name but found a name they think suits him well.

“We don’t really know his name, but call him Chubby, for obvious reasons,” said Mrs King.

“We don’t feed him, but possibly other people around here do.”

Mrs King said it is believed that Chubby travels about a mile to get there, crossing some busy roads to arrive at the library.

He is often waiting outside when she arrives to open up, and has been known to visit the neighbours when they are closed.

“Sometimes he is sitting outside waiting and as I walk up the road I hear him meow at me. He’ll then run in with the first customer,” she said.

Although not the most consistent of library visitors, Mrs King said that you can almost guarantee that Chubby will be there on a Thursday morning when local children visit.

“Bungay Primary come for stories every week, but I think they like the cat more than they like us!

“The first question we get is, ‘is the cat here?’,” she said.

“So we have to be quite strict, although it purrs so loudly I have to try to talk over it.”

However the cat is well loved by all at the library and they hope he will continue to visit and be happy ever after.

3 comments

  • What annoys me is, if it was a dog the police would be called, owners traced and possibly prosecuted for allowing it to roam free and terrorise children etc. you can see it all now. But because it is a cat everyone welcomes it, what if it scratched a child causing damage to eyes or face? Why are cat owners exempt from the law and allowed to own these animals and just kick them out to roam and annoy everyone else. It is about time cat owners were made responsible and accountable, as we all expect dog owners to be, what is the difference? They are animals.

    Report this comment

    Mr T

    Friday, May 4, 2012

  • ****worms, fleas or has been vaccinated as cats carry lots of germs in their saliva****. Not as many germs as humans , which are much more likely to be transferable. Perhaps all library visitors should be put through a sheep dip on arrival and then given a wipe down with hibiscrub.

    Report this comment

    LARSON.E. WHIPSNADE

    Thursday, May 3, 2012

  • How disgusting. Letting the cat sit on the sofas and jump on the bookcases. I take it no-one has bothered to check if it has worms, fleas or has been vaccinated as cats carry lots of germs in their saliva. Glad thats not my local library.

    Report this comment

    Kgames Henry

    Thursday, May 3, 2012

The views expressed in the above comments do not necessarily reflect the views of this site

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