Library Cat Adorably Dresses Up in Cute Costumes to Promote the Library
One Pennsylvania library found a very cute way to get attention online, and it involved a cat with excellent costume changes. In Bellefonte, the Centre County Library turned Saturday into a weekly showcase for Horatio, the library cat who stars in handmade outfits created by bibliographic services assistant Lisa Shaffer.
Lisa started posting the photos after noticing the library had almost no social media presence, and Horatio quickly became the face of the effort. What began as a simple idea turned into a steady stream of adorable library promotion, with each new costume giving followers something to smile about.
Now the library has a furry little marketing star, and Horatio seems to be taking the job seriously.
Lisa asked her supervisor if she could "share pictures of her cats dressed up as famous characters from literature and pop culture."
Her supervisor gave the okay, and Lisa got to work, resulting in posts that are equal parts hilarious and adorable. The creativity is undeniable.
Lisa said:
"I just started taking random books that would be interesting to highlight."
She added:
"Or if it was an author’s birthday or the anniversary of some event, I would get a picture of one of my cats, mostly Horatio, and it just kind of went from there."
As I'm sure you and I were expecting, Lisa's idea was a hit, and the posts were wildly successful.
Horatio is such a great model that the library now has over 6,000 followers on Instagram.
Now, Lisa, Horatio, and the library are all committed to staying on top of this clever task on a weekly basis.
Every week, Lisa picks a new topic and gets to work. Horatio is a very patient cat.
Horatio's costumes can vary significantly from very simple to quite complex, but they're always pawesome.
Lisa has also mentioned that Horatio isn't the biggest fan of crowds, so he doesn't do in-person meet-and-greets, but he's very easy for her to "work" with.
Lisa sincerely loves her beloved Horatio.
"He’s an 11-year-old tabby, and he’s just such a gentle soul, I think. He’s just so, so sweet. I think he’s also a bit of a ham too. When we do our ‘photo shoots,’ as I like to call them, for Caturday, he really does seem to know what’s going on."
The way Lisa sees it, when "you connect with the library, you connect with literacy, and that’s our mission."
Check out this cute video of Horatio!
Before you call Lisa’s cat costumes “too cute,” see how Willow became viral from one photo.
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