Lost stuffy takes on a life of its own

The tiny tabby with the green eyes was first found wandering in the play area of the Children's Department in the Avon Lake Public Library the day after Thanksgiving. How the lost little kitten had ended up there was a mystery but there she was, obviously well-loved and just a wee bit worn but in the ways that hinted of a loving child somewhere close by. "It was worn a little big. Somebody had used the kitty's nose as a passy. It was well-loved," Shea Alltmont, the library's communications manager, said. Miss Carol, a children's librarian, found the little lost stuffy, and brought her to the front desk where the staff kept a box full of other lost things that found their way left behind at the library — an odd assortment of gloves, unmatched gloves, winter hats and the occasional child's stuffy toy. All are carefully tagged and dated, noted where each was found, should their owners come seeking them. Especially the stuffies. Anyone who's ever found themself trying to comfort a child grieving the loss of a beloved stuffy at bedtime — well, it goes beyond words. That's sometimes the first real mourning a child knows. Alltmont said the day the little tabby cat showed up in Miss Carol's hands just happened to be a slow one after some pretty fast-paced days at the library. The library had just debuted a special holiday-themed event weekend with live reindeer, drawing 2,000 visitors from all over Northeast Ohio. Because there wasn't much going on that day, though, Alltmont got creative — and took up the cause of the little kitty with the idea of reuniting it with its human companion. She turned to the library's social media pages and launched a clever and whimsical plea from the tabby's point of view, with a few photos of the kitty posed throughout the library: looking at the resident hamster, helping check out DVDs, looking at holiday books. She figured it would be just a few days before somebody would come forward and reclaim the wee fellow. But no one did. She made more posts. Still, no one came. Soon Alltmont discovered a name on the kitty's tag, from the toy company: Aurora. The posts came more frequently, and "Aurora" started taking on a personality of her own, developing a following online and Alltmont was thinking of more ways to tap her 15 years of ingenuity and props from Elf on the Shelf experiences from raising her two children. The posts were enormously popular. Hundreds would like or share them and more than 17,000 people saw the first one. Staff members started approaching Alltmont, asking for her to think of ways to incorporate Aurora into ways to pitch their programs on social media: "Could you add the cat into my upcoming guitar lessons? I'm giving blood this month. Let's take pics with the cat in it." "We're having a good time taking pics of her and we're getting a huge response, honestly," she said. "I have to laugh because it is such not a typical thing. People love this cat." Check out the library's Facebook page and you'll see Aurora learning about solids, liquids and gases with Ms. Springer's first-graders from Westview Elementary this week. There she is, eating pasta to promote "Spaghetti With the Yeti," the January story book trail read. Is that her, posing behind miniature 3-D glasses and eating popcorn in front of tiny movie theater seats to recommend renting "Cats and Dogs" on Hoopla? Aurora dressed as painter Bob Ross, including a miniature wig? And in an Elvis sequined jumpsuit to celebrate the King's birthday? Demonstrating yoga poses? Alltmont knew she was onto something that connected with people when people who had never connected with the library before told her they were following the library's social media to follow the cat's exploits. And when she recently took time off work, she started receiving messages from coworkers, photos they had taken of Aurora — removed from her usual resting spot on Alltmont's desk — attending ukulele lessons at the library. She also received photos of Aurora sitting on her boss's desk, in a planter, and posed with a deer. When Alltmont carried Aurora into a recent gaggle of kindergarteners, one proclamation from the teacher — "It's Aurora!" — made every little head swivel and the whole group "woooooo" in sync. "This cat is like a pop star. She's kind of like an unofficial ambassador," she said. Staffers are considering crafting a book about her. "At the end of the day my job is to make connections with people and it makes a lot of people happy. We hope she finds her human but in the meantime, she really brings a lot of joy to people." To see more of Aurora's story, visit Facebook.com/avonlakepubliclibrary. Contact Chronicle-Telegram columnist Rini Jeffers at rinijeffers@gmail.com.