Meet Baker and Taylor Library Cats from Minden

Meet two of the most famous library cats in the world

Baker and Taylor

• We received a complimentary ecopy of this lovely book for review. The opinions here are 100% our own and we are responsible for the content of this post. We only share news and products we feel are relevant to our readers  

The story of these two wonderful library cats is told from the perspective of one of their two library ‘moms’, Jan Louch, who introduced the cats to their library home, and chronicles their time there. The story is much richer for being part cat tale and part a loving reflection on the world of the librarian. It becomes a much richer and deeper story as it sets the cats in a place and time we should treasure. 

The collection of memories and remembered details, the small stories and incidents, the libraries’ visitors, all add up to a book that is both a celebration of Baker and Taylor and to their time in a world where libraries were evolving at lightening speed.

Jan Louch with Baker and Taylor (c) Jan Louch

How the Library Cat Story Began

Jan starts by sharing her early love of animals and books, and many of us will identify with her as the keen youngster devouring books by the dozen, deeply loving the very act of reading itself.

You sympathise, as the story develops, with the adult Jan abruptly thrown into a divorce and life on her own. As part of her journey, she finds herself successfully applying for a position at the Minden branch of the Douglas County Library in Nevada. It’s here that the story of Baker and Taylor un’folds’. Baker is first to arrive and gets his name from sleeping in a Baker and Taylor book box!

The two delightful Scottish Folds, ostensibly brought in to tackle a mouse problem, become firm favourites and are greatly loved in the library. Then Jan is asked by long-established book distribution company Baker and Taylor if the cats can be photographed for some company publicity material and from here their fame grows and grows.

The Book is an insight into Libraries of the Past and Present

Our favourite ‘real’ picture from the book ©Jan Louch

• There are so many wonderful pictures in the book that we have assembled a slideshow to allow you to see a library cat selection. All of the images are within copyright to Jan Louch, Baker & Taylor, Miss Kramm and others. We confess a real fondness for Mr Figini in the book.

Check out the Library Cats slideshow here:-

Library Cats and Education

The story of Baker and Taylor is bound up in the library’s develoment and growth. It is also, in the mind of one visionary teacher, a key part in the encouragement and growth of literacy in her students. Leslie Kramm and her students formed a Baker and Taylor fan club and wrote to the cats. Their teacher also composed a song which can be seen in the video below. In spite of our electronic age, to see the magic effect one book can have on school children, is a delight.

Jan responds to their letters right up until the time Baker, then Taylor pass away – a point which is covered with great sensitivity for both us and for the young students she writes to. You eill love the effect that the cats have on people around the world. You see how we as humans, relate so strongly to the cats we love, even if we never meet them. Check out the video of Miss Kramm’s class, it is a real delight and worth every second of your time. 

Baker and Taylor stole a million hearts as the face of a book company and as representatives of their own library. This book celebrates two much loved library cats, their lives and times, and, as a special treat, also introduces us to some library cats still working today and an author who had Baker and Taylor catnapped in her first book (which became the first of a wildly popular series!) This added extra touch makes the book into something special!

“Baker and Taylor The Library Cats Who Left Their Pawprints on a Small Town . . and the World” :- 

• Hardcover Indiebound, Barnes & Noble, BooksaMillion, Amazon etc.,
• ISBN: 9781250081070
• ISBN10: 1250081076

• e-Book iBook, ebooks, Kobo, B&N Nook, Amazon, Google Play
• ISBN: 9781466892972 
• ISBN10: 1466892978

Phoebe Kitten
Baker and Taylor
Library Cats reviewer