We have talked about the great work dogs do in libraries to help kids with their reading, and some of you already have these dogs hard at work in your library.
This month, as we look at ways to mange stress in our libraries and workplaces, we wanted to look at dogs again; this time looking at pups who work to help bust stress! An increasingly popular activity in academic libraries, especially as the semester wraps up, therapy dogs provide a tool for libraries to help their communities to be successful in their work.
- University of Houston provides pups in the library as part of their finals offerings
- MIT libraries have Furry Fridays all semester, as well as dogs for final exams
- University of North Texas has some finals week visitors
- UW Parkside students get to enjoy a finals-themed dog session
- University of Buffalo also provides doggies at finals time
- University of Dubuque is having a #RaiseTheWoof celebration (I feel better just looking at these puppers!)
It is not just fun (though, that would be a good enough reason to have dogs in a library!), but dogs can provide some useful services. Librarians have studied the service of bringing in dogs to the library, and have determined it benefits students in different ways.
- Therapy Dogs in Academic Libraries: A Way to Foster Student Engagement and Mitigate Self-Reported Stress during Finals
- Take a Paws: Fostering Student Wellness with a Therapy Dog Program at Your University Library
- Therapy Dogs on Campus: Recommendations for Counseling Center Outreach
- Who Let the Dog Out? Implementing a Successful Therapy Dog Program in an Academic Law Library
Does your library have dogs, as reading helpers or to bust stress? Tell us about it!
We have therapy dogs come in at the end of every trimester! The dogs and their handlers are part of a volunteer group. They come in during our advisory time and they hang out in the Media Center. It’s awesome and a great way for students to de-stress during finals week!