A True Story:

Riley made his way into the Country Free Library in 1958. He was a scruffy mess but was adopted by the library, sleeping on the librarian’s desk… they took up collections to feed him and he became so comfortable that a patron said he was living the life of Riley. So Riley was his name and he lived quietly there until 1963 when a dog in another branch caused concern with the patrons in Mt Shasta which led the Board of Supervisors to decide that no animals were allowed in the libraries. The patrons were so upset they wrote tons of letters to allow him to stay… convincing the authorities that he could be considered a pest control officer. The event made the news and magazines… Riley was a sort of celebrity adding chapters to his own story by disappearing once  and finally for good a second time when the two Libraries began to merge. Riley excused himself in 1969 during the chaos of moving to a new location and was never seen again.