Cat gets banned from Macalester library, wins heart of internet

ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) - Max the Cat is after one thing - and it's not mice. 

All he wants is to get inside the library at Macalester College. Unfortunately he's been banned - in one of the cutest ways possible.

Max often tries to sneak into the DeWitt Wallace Library in St. Paul behind people coming in the door, according to a Macalester official. Although the library staff members are animal lovers, they know some library guests may be allergic to cats. 

To warn people about letting Max in, staff put up a handwritten sign on doors. But later, library staff member Christopher Schommer replaced it with a new sign with cat artwork by Gamze Genc Celik. A photo of the sign quickly went viral on the internet.

"Please do not let in the cat," reads the sign. "His name is Max. Max is nice. His owner does not want Max in the Library. We do not want Max in the Library. Max wants to be in the Library. Please do not let Max into the Library."

Connie Lipton, Max's human, says he started wandering the campus this past summer, but come fall, he started going inside some of the buildings.

In addition to the library, he's also found his way into a few other buildings including the Spanish and Portuguese department.

Lipton says the response online has been "overwhelming" but is glad to see Max's high jinks are making people smile.

"He's made a lot of people happy," said Lipton. "It's an uplifting, fun, little story."

He's certainly connected with a lot of people online, where people turned him into a cartoon and created a fake library card for him.

Lipton says she hopes to get Max leash-trained in the future, so she can take him on trips to the campus.

But until then, library staff will be keeping an extra close eye for the sneaky intruder.