A cat who stayed at an Arkansas library while it was open has been told to check out and never return.
Madeline, the cat at Ashdown Community Library who roamed the library during the day and stayed with librarian Maureen Nations after hours, will have to leave because some patrons are allergic to its hair, the Texarkana Gazette reported.
Little River County Judge Mike Cranford compared it to disallowing smoking and said visitors, especially those with allergies, expect a "cat-free" setting.
"We have to provide a safe environment for all patrons who use the library," he told the newspaper. "It was making a hardship for some patrons, and this was something that was fixable, and I asked the librarian to remove the cat from the library."
Nations told the Gazette that Madeline — who enjoyed napping near the checkout desk or in windowsills after joining the library in mid-2016 — will continue to live with her.
It's not the first time a cat has been ordered to leave a library. In Texas last year, an effort to remove Browser the cat from the White Settlement Public Library stalled when an international outcry prompted a reversal of the eviction.