Library cats · 1983–1990s
Baker and Taylor were two Scottish Fold cats who came to the Douglas County Library in Minden, Nevada, to help with a mouse problem. They ended up doing considerably more for the library than catching mice.
The pair became fixtures at the circulation desk, drew visitors from far beyond Minden, appeared on posters and tote bags seen by librarians across the country, and eventually became the official mascots of the Baker & Taylor book company. Long before library cats had social media accounts, Baker and Taylor showed how two cats could turn a small public library into a destination.
Baker joined the library. The Douglas County Library had a mouse problem, and the librarians decided on a traditional solution: hire a cat. Baker, a Scottish Fold, arrived in March 1983 and quickly settled into life among the books, patrons, and staff.
Then came Taylor. The librarians had always hoped to have two cats, and Baker’s name had already suggested the obvious partner. After Baker & Taylor, the library book distributor, heard about its feline namesake, the company helped bring a second Scottish Fold to Minden. Taylor joined the library two months after Baker. Baker and Taylor were officially a pair.
The library got busier. The cats became fixtures around the library, particularly at the circulation desk. People came to see them, children read beside them, and the library reported a 17% increase in circulation that year. The mousers were becoming something else: a reason to visit.
Baker and Taylor went to print. Baker & Taylor photographed the cats for a promotional poster. The campaign took off. Posters and cat-themed bags began appearing at library conferences, putting two cats from a small Nevada library in front of librarians from around the country.
The library cats became celebrities. Fan mail and Christmas cards arrived. Visitors made special trips to Minden to meet them. Their images spread through libraries on posters, bags, shirts, and other Baker & Taylor merchandise. Back home, they continued doing what they had always done: sleeping, eating, sitting at the circulation desk, and keeping company with readers.
Official mascots. Baker and Taylor were formally made mascots of the Baker & Taylor company. Their folded ears and familiar faces became closely associated with the library supplier, particularly through the company’s much-loved conference bags and posters. Two library mousers were now recognizable to librarians across the country.
The end of an era. Baker and Taylor spent the rest of their lives connected to the Douglas County Library. Baker passed away in 1994, and Taylor in 1997. They were buried in front of the library. The library decided not to replace them — and by then, replacing them would have been difficult anyway.
Their story became a book. Former Douglas County librarian Jan Louch, with writer Lisa Rogak, published The True Tails of Baker and Taylor, telling the story of the cats, the library, and the community that formed around them. Decades after Baker and Taylor first walked into the library, people were still asking about them.
Away from the posters and publicity, Baker and Taylor still had a library to run. Baker was known for taking naps and Taylor liked food. Both spent time around the circulation desk, greeted patrons, and made themselves available to children who wanted some feline company while they read or did their homework.
Some visitors came to the library specifically to meet them, and others who didn’t know would be surprised to see the cats. Librarian Jan Louch remembered patrons rushing over to tell staff that a cat had somehow gotten inside the library.
Baker and Taylor became famous before the internet could make a cat famous overnight. They appeared on posters, tote bags, calendars, T-shirts, mugs, and other Baker & Taylor materials. At library conferences, the cat bags became especially sought-after giveaways. Librarians carried them home, hung the posters in their libraries, and helped turn two Scottish Folds in rural Nevada into familiar faces thousands of miles away.
The cats also had a fan club. For many librarians, Baker and Taylor became more than company mascots. They were a wonderfully literal symbol of something libraries had understood for a long time: cats and books seem to belong together.
Before their faces appeared across library conferences, Baker and Taylor were simply two cats living among the shelves in Minden.
Photos: Baker & Taylor LLC / Jan Louch / Lisa Rogak
A short look at Baker and Taylor beyond the still photographs that made them famous in libraries across the country.
Video shared by Lisa Rogak, co-author of The True Tails of Baker and Taylor.
Baker and Taylor’s story didn’t end when the original cats were gone. Their images remained associated with the Baker & Taylor company for decades, while the cats themselves became part of library folklore. Their story was preserved in Jan Louch’s book, and the Douglas County Public Library continues to keep materials connected to their years in Minden.
They also left behind something harder to put in an archive. For a generation of librarians, those two folded-ear cats on a tote bag weren’t anonymous mascots. They were Baker and Taylor: two actual library cats from Nevada who somehow ended up belonging, a little bit, to libraries everywhere.
Baker and Taylor were two Scottish Fold cats who lived at the Douglas County Library in Minden, Nevada. They arrived in 1983 as mousers and eventually became famous library cats and mascots for the Baker & Taylor book company.
Baker was named after Baker & Taylor, the book distributor used by the library. Jan Louch, a former librarian, thought they fit the cats’ personalities well. Baker was “kind of doughy” and looked like a baker, while Taylor was tidy and put together, more like a tailor.
Mousing was the original reason cats were brought into the library. Their role quickly expanded, however, as they became companions for staff and patrons and attractions in their own right.
No. The original Baker and Taylor lived at the Douglas County Library in Minden. The Baker & Taylor company helped arrange Taylor’s arrival and later used the pair in promotional photography before making them company mascots.
Their unusual life as resident library cats first attracted visitors and media attention. Their fame grew considerably after the Baker & Taylor company began featuring them on posters, bags, and other promotional materials distributed to libraries and librarians.
Yes. Contemporary accounts describe visitors making special trips to the Douglas County Library specifically to meet Baker and Taylor. They also received fan mail and cards from admirers.
Yes. The Douglas County Public Library still holds materials connected to Baker and Taylor and continues to carry The True Tails of Baker and Taylor, the 2016 book about their lives.
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