Therapy Dogs in the Library

Last week in 511 we were visited by a Librarian from the Syracuse area who brought a therapy dog that their library allows patron/user/member/owners check out for a certain amount of hours. This brought back to my head an idea I have had since my family got a therapy dog, a chocolate standard poodle (pictured on the right) we named Luna.  My mother is a Special ed teacher and she brings therapy dogs (Luna and five other standard poodles owned by a family friend) into the school one day each week of the school year and has students read to the dogs (with a handler in the room with them, usually my Pepere). This allows children to improve their reading skills in an environment where they won't be judged, dogs do not judge and are very attentive because they are getting attention from the students.  Other schools in the area have been working on starting a similar program, and one of our local librarians is training to be a handler.  I think this would be really cool to get started in public libraries, and even school libraries. It gets community involvement and offers a much needed service, and it does not just have to be children that take advantage of it.  There will always be that problem of people who are afraid of dogs, or allergic to dogs, or just don't like dogs but that is a problem that I think we just have to deal with.  That is one of the reasons we chose a Standard Poodle, they are highly intelligent dogs, that are hypoallergenic and though they are highly energetic they listen well and remain calm when they have to be. I feel like this is one service that many libraries can benefit from that will greatly benefit their communities.