Public Library Opens With 14,000 Volumes, a No-Shouting Policy, and a Resident Cat Named Dewey Who Has Already Claimed the Periodicals Section

ZOFIA DESCHAMPS HAS BEEN A LIBRARIAN for eleven years. She has run branches in Marinette, Oconto Falls, and a mobile bookmobile circuit that covered four townships in Langlade County and that she describes as “the best job I’ve had until now.” She is thirty-four years old, has strong opinions about the Dewey Decimal System (correct and non-negotiable), stronger opinions about the purpose of a public library (a civic institution, not a computer lab or a day care or a debate forum, though it can serve secondary functions in all three categories if people are respectful), and the strongest possible opinions about noise.

“The previous public library I ran had a problem with people arguing about internet things on the public computers,” she said, seated at the reference desk at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, an hour after the library opened and seven minutes after she had asked a patron to lower his voice while reading an article about something online that he found upsetting. “It became a venue. People would come in, find something that made them angry on the internet, and then tell the person next to them about it at a volume that was inconsiderate to everyone within fifteen feet. I implemented a no-shouting policy. It helped. I’m implementing it here from day one, before the problem develops.”

The library opened at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, ninety minutes before the factory ribbon-cutting, and by the time the ceremony concluded and people were looking for somewhere to go, there was already a queue at the card registration desk. Deschamps had issued 43 cards by noon. She expects to issue 200 by the end of the week.

“A library card,” she said, “is the first civic document most people have in a new place. Before the voter registration. Before the utility account. The library card is the thing that says: I belong here. I am going to use this place. The library is willing to bet that I will bring the books back.” She paused. “It is also, in practice, a very effective way for me to learn people’s names, which I find useful.”

The collection was built over three months by Deschamps and a purchasing committee that she describes as “me and the list I made, plus Rod Black who weighed in on the journalism section and Herb Fencl who had very strong opinions about agricultural and meteorological reference materials.” The 14,200 volumes cover fiction, history, science, practical skills, children’s literature, and what Deschamps calls “the kind of science books that actually explain things, as opposed to the kind that explain things in a way that makes you feel smart for not understanding them.”

The periodicals section, located near the south windows where the morning light comes in at an angle that Deschamps describes as “genuinely very good for reading,” subscribes to 18 print periodicals ranging from the New Yorker to Progressive Farmer to two regional bird-watching newsletters. The section is currently supervised, on an unofficial basis, by Dewey.

Dewey is a seventeen-pound Maine Coon, gray and white, who came with Deschamps from the Marinette County branch where he had been the official library cat for three years. His predecessor in that role was named Melvil, after Melvil Dewey, who originated the decimal classification system. This Dewey was named after Dewey the library cat from a famous Iowa library memoir, which Deschamps has in stock (“shelf 027.4, American library history, top row, you can reach it if you try”).

Dewey arrived at the library Sunday and selected his territory by the following Tuesday: the reading chair in the periodicals section, near the south windows, from which position he can see the entire floor and be seen by everyone entering. He has not moved from this territory except to eat, conduct essential maintenance, and receive visitors. He accepts petting from registered cardholders at his discretion. He does not accept petting from people who have been asked to lower their voices.

“He is,” Deschamps said, “a better judge of character than most.”

Library cards are free with proof of address. Hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. The first community book selection will be announced next week. Free Wi-Fi password available at the desk. No shouting about the internet.

Donna Marchetti covers local institutions for the Tribune. The library is at 14 Main St. Dewey is not available for private meetings. He has a schedule.