Posted on January 2, 2015
Welcome back to the world’s greatest blog (written by a library cat). This time I’ll tell you about my boss and my job. Robin Munro is the librarian that I live and work with. I live and he works. This is what he really looks like:

You already know that he’s more Scottish than Robbie Burns. He wears kilts all the time. Which means that when I’m on the ground his hairy knees are at my eye level. I shudder daily. And he loves to play the bagpipes, of course. Which is not entirely bad, because it sounds like he’s torturing a puppy.
Robin can be overly sensitive. I try to help him get over this by ridiculing him. He’s so lucky to have me, though he doesn’t fully appreciate my efforts. Every now and then he tries to feed me cat food or pleads with the SPCA to take me back.
He plays soccer, and is a surprisingly decent striker. (He doesn’t actually play in a kilt — I just added that for dramatic effect). His ungrateful team mates have no sense of humour when I steal the ball. I mean, what am I supposed to do when the concession stand is closed?
We live in a moderately comfortable townhouse. I insisted on having my own bedroom. I wanted a king size bed, but cheapskate Robin only got me a double.
Now for my job: I am the Official Newkirk College Library Cat, and much more. By rights they should give me an honourary degree. I take turns sleeping in the English, Philosophy, Fine Arts and Criminology departments.
The library is a big old stone building with plenty of cool nooks and crannies. My fave snoozing places are the book trucks (excellent transportation) and the reference desk, where I can wake up in time for any interesting action. I’ve learned the hard way that sleeping in the book return bin can cause concussions. See nearby drawing for gruesome details:
My career as a Library Cat is strenuous. Think of all the effort I put into giving ‘cute kitty’ looks to the students so they’ll share their food with me. What a stingy bunch. They’d much rather poke me when I’m blissfully sleeping. The college would be so much nicer without people.
Robin is a very soft boss, so I whip his library assistants into shape. For some reason, they seem to resent my critiques of their weaknesses. They refused to order me that book on hard-to-trace poisons, even after I bought “Cataloguing for Dummies” for them.
In fact, their response to my “how to walk on stilts to improve shelving on high bookcases” program made me feel maligned and undervalued. It may soon be time for me to go on strike for better conditions! Wait for it, dear readers …
And now I gotta go eat my third morning snack and watch Garfield cartoons on Robin’s reference computer. Next time I’ll tell you about Robin’s older siblings, Matilda and Duff, who almost make him look normal.
Posted on November 21, 2014
Ah! My very first blog. And who am I, you ask?
I am McTavish, the official Newkirk College Library Cat. Yes, I’m a feline. I mostly snooze on the reference desk. And snack. And zing out brilliant one-liners.
You can already tell that I’m wonderful. My fur is full and luxurious, and my eyes shine like the morning dew. Not that I’m overly moist.
I am also a brilliant artist, just one of my many talents. See self-portrait off to the left. Though … hmm. In retrospect, I’m not sure that I managed to capture my sensitive intelligence. Might have to revisit this later. But enough about me. For now.
My head librarian is a Munro. They’re everywhere.
See, Newkirk was founded a hundred and fifty years ago by Captain Cosmo Munro, who parked his ship in the Fraser River and made himself comfortable. First he built a big house, then he sent for his zillions of relatives from ye olde Scotland. They cleared the forest from the steep hills and made themselves a town.

Off to the right you’ll see a picture that I did NOT draw. Really. I just pulled it out of the College Archives. It’s an early example of colour photography (apparently they could only do blue) showing Captain Munro dropping anchor in the river for the very first time. Is it just me, or did he forget something … ?
Newkirk has tons of weird Scottish stuff. Like the Klassy Kilt Shop, Tasteful Tartan Trainers, and Loch Ness Lingerie for Ladies of Leisure. Sheesh. There are a lot of fairs and music (bagpipes). With dancing and whisky and poetry. And even more (bagpipe) music. I asked for earmuffs for my birthday.
We also have a small community of Swedish. No one knows why. They wander around saying things like “Do you want some gravlax with your raggmunk? No?”
Newkirk is actually kind of a pretty town, full of historic buildings and parks. My favourite park has a good selection of benches for napping and a pond full of ducks who seem to enjoy my verbal playfulness. And there’s other wildlife, too. Like people.
Anyhow, writing this blog is starting to feel like work, so I’ll talk to you just a bit later.
McTavish, Library Cat Extraordinaire
Category: Clan Munro comic strips, Clan Munro: McTavish's blog Tagged: Clan Munro, McTavish, Newkirk
Posted on October 29, 2014
Robin is the head librarian at Newkirk College. It lags slightly behind Oxford, Cambridge and MIT in world rankings of higher education institutions. Though the library orientation students are noted for their very creative questions …
You can find find all the Clan Munro strips right here.
Category: Clan Munro comic strips Tagged: Clan Munro, comic strip, McTavish, Newkirk College Library, Robin Munro
Posted on October 20, 2014
Greetings! Here is your introduction to Newkirk College librarian Robin Munro and his official library cat, McTavish. Not a pretty sight.
Did we mention that Robin is a wee bit sensitive? McTavish, on the other hand, doesn’t worry about anything but maintaining his cozy lifestyle. It’s a match made in heaven …
You will find the collected Clan Munro strips right here …
Category: Clan Munro comic strips Tagged: Clan Munro, comic strip, McTavish, Robin Munro
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