City Council Wants To Evict A Library Cat, And The Fur Is Flying Over This

Browser the cat at the White Settlement, Texas public
library. That community's city council wants him
out of the library, and the town's residents
are rebelling at that idea.  

UPDATE:

Browser the cat can stay in the White Settlement, Texas library after all.

As the Dallas Morning News put it in their headline:

"White Settlement Council turns tail, lets Browser the Library cat stay after backlash."

After the council initially voted to oust the cat last month, a social media firestorm erupted.

The White Settlement Council caved in the face of the onslaught, and Browser will keep sleeping in the library, catching the occasional mouse and entertaining the children who come in

I guess sense and peace finally came back to White Settlement

PREVIOUS DISCUSSION:

The city council in White Settlement, Texas voted recently to evict Browser, the cat that's been living at the municipal library for almost six years.

There hadn't really been any complaints about the cat, and this vote to evict Browser came out of the blue, according to local media reports.

Browser was originally brought in to combat rodents that had been damaging books in the library.

Everybody ended up loving the affectionate cat, who helps children settle down and read their books.

But the city council suddenly had other ideas. Suddenly, Browser is a crisis and has to leave the library, apparently.

White Settlement City Council member sniffed, "City Hall and city businesses are no place for animals," as she voted to evict Browser, according to the Fort Worth Star Telegram. 

Of course, the entire community of White Settlement is up in arms as a petition circulates for a new vote on the matter coming up. Or a community vote to keep the cat.

But the White Settlement City Council is determined to get rid of Browser, the Star Telegram notes.

Council member Steve Ott said people might be allergic to cat dander, which is a point but you can keep Browser away from people with allergies.

Others point out that if Browser goes, the mice come in and pest control outfits will have to use chemicals to banish the rodents.

Still, Ott is unmoved. "That cat is just that - a cat. Not a person. So go ahead and sign all the petitions you want. The cat needs to go."

The community's mayor thinks this all got started because an employee at City Hall wanted to bring his puppy to work and they wouldn't let him, so he got revenge by getting the City Council to go after Browser.

By the way, Browser isn't costing White Settlement taxpayers anything. Library personal pay for Browser's feeding and care out of pocket.

Personally, I'm not a cat person. They're OK. But I can see how a cat could have a welcoming, calming influence at a library.

Maybe the White Settlement city councilors who don't like Browser should just chill. Or read a damn book or something.

Great, But Hideous, Illegal And Mean Business Idea: Steal Library Books; Sell 'Em Online

Police say they hope to soon
  catch the moron stealing books
from libraries and selling them
on the Internet  

Here's a business idea for people who have no sense of morals or decency, and don't like little obstructions like breaking the law.  

Some idiot in Pennsylvania has been stealing books from libraries, then selling them online, says Consumerist and CBS Pittsburgh.

CBS Pittsburgh reported at least $6,000 in popular and bestselling books had been stolen from the Cooper Siegel Library in Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania.

The books are apparently being sold over the Internet, says CBS Pittsburgh.

The thief has apparently figured out how to bypass library security.

Nothing like denying people the ability to read the books they want from the library if it means fun and profit, no?  Not if there's money to be made.

The thief is a special kind of jerk. If we're all lucky, maybe he's allergic to the ink in the books and will get very sick.

I  can dream, can't I?

Wouldn't people who buy the stolen books online know they were stolen online? Not necessarily, says Consumerist: 

"Libraries get rid of excess and no longer popular books all the time. Sometimes they're sold in book sales, sometimes recycled, sometimes given away. If the thief has a stamp that says 'DISCARDED' and stamped up the stolen books with it, as libraries do when they purge their collections, no customers would suspect anything.

Library books usually contain concealed magnetic or RFID anti-theft devices, and the thief is either removing these or leaving through an alternate exit."

 The good news is police say they think they know who's stealing the books and hope to arrest him soon. The guy reportedly already has a pretty substantial criminal record.