3/26/2014

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Empowering Your Library Users

and Staff for a Healthier

Tomorrow

Texas Library Association Conference

Spring 2014

Presenter: Kay Hetherly

Texas State University, Alkek Library

Get Your Woof On: Therapy Dogs in

the Library

Divine Canine Buddy (& Emma) with Alkek student worker

Today’s talk

• Background

• Benefits of therapy dogs in the library

• Steps for starting a therapy dog program

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Therapy dogs everywhere!!

Greensville Correctional Center (VA) inmate-canine animal assisted

therapy team, 2012 (from www.dogchannel.com)

Chardon High shooting, OH, 2012

(from www.newsnet5.com)

San Francisco airport Wag Brigade, 2013

(from www.sfgate.com)

Including Texas

Divine Canine Bailey & Soldier Goetz at Fort Hood

(courtesy of Divine Canines)

West Elementary School invites therapy dogs after West Fertilizer

Company Explosion, 2013 (from www.dallasnews.com)

“Therapy Dogs’ Presence Steadily Grows in

Libraries” Library Journal eNews (2/6/12)

Monty the Yale Law library therapy dog goes to commencement, 2012

(from www.aallspectrum.wordpress.com)

Cooper the Countway Library therapy dog,

Harvard Medical School, 2011-2014 (from

www.countway.harvard.edu)

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Popular library therapy dog programs

• Academic libraries: relieve finals stress

• Public & School libraries: read to a dog, such

as Divine Canines Barking Book Buddies

Divine Canine Bella, Barking Book Buddies (courtesy

of Divine Canines)

Barking Book Buddies Program (courtesy of Divine Canines)

UT Austin pilots therapy dog program,

December 2012

Courtesy of UT Perry–Castañeda Library

Texas State University Alkek Library

Sarah Naper, Director of

Research & Learning Services

Joan Heath, Associate Vice President and

University Librarian

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Texas State pilots therapy dog

program, May 2013

Benefits of library therapy dog

programs

Stress relief

Networking

Collaboration

Research

Promotion

Student stress

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Stress for library staff

“Researchers and practitioners interested in

librarianship have long recognized the inherent

stress in the librarian profession . . .”

“Role ambiguity” occurs often in “organizations

involving frequent changes in technology or

organizational structure.”

Shupe and Pung (2011) Journal of Academic Librarianship

The faces say it all

Pet Partner Rufus & Texas State student

Pet Partner Moses & Texas State students

Staff take a break with dogs

Divine Canine Bailey & Alkek staff, Amy Bartley & Kay Hetherly

Divine Canine Shiner & Alkek staff, Steve Davis

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Survey comments• You know when you feel all hope is lost

and feel you’re alone, I was reminded to keep on going by the warmth of an animal. Enjoyed so much!

• Not having my dog here is tough. Especially when the stress of school increases due to finals. Being around these therapy dogs has been so relaxing. It’s just what I needed today . Thank you for all that y’all do and for sharing your dogs! ☺☺☺☺

• “The dogs are so kind and we really are stressed students. Please bring the dogs back we love them. Thank you!”

• “very helpful—I haven’t smiled so big this week! Thank you! (Staff member)

Divine Canine Rosie at Alkek

Divine Canine Sadie at Alkek

Physiological changes with 15 minute

(average) therapy dog visit

050

100150

200250

300

Endorphine (increase linked to pain reduction)

Oxytocin (Increase linked to positive social bonding)

Prolactin (Increase linked to positive social bonding)

Phenyl acetic acid (Increase linked to positive social attachment)

Dopamine (Increase linked to pleasurable sensations)

Cortisol (Decrease linked to positive social bonding and stress

relief)

3.1

2.1

9.2

123.5

86.5

317

8

4

11.6

143

107

309

Ch

em

ica

l ch

an

ges

Post-visit

Baseline

D.A. Marcus (2013) “The Science Behind Animal-Assisted Therapy”

Promotion

• “I love dogs! PLEASE do this again, y’all are so awesome!” (Alkek survey)

TWITTER COMMENTS

• omg alkek is seriously having puppies you can pet to help relieve the stress of finals..... I LOVE MY SCHOOL

• Alkek will have puppies in it during finals for students to take a break and de-stress with! Awesome idea! Only at #TXST

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Courtesy of UT Perry–Castañeda Library

Student research

Ashley Asel

• Graduate student, Developmental Education program (learning support concentration)

• Designed our survey

• Wrote a paper on our

program: “The Effects of

Therapy Dog Interactions on

College Students’ Final

Exam-Related Stress”

• Working on masters thesis

on animal assisted therapyAshley and Ranger

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Faculty research

Dr. Elizabeth Kjellstrand Hartwig,

PhD, LPC-S, RPT-S CLAS Department,

Professional Counseling Program

• Received funding for study in the

fall for canine-assisted play therapy

• “My hope is to create an animal-assisted therapytraining program or class here at Texas State in which Iwill train counseling students to do canine-assistedtherapy with children in counseling” (Dr. Hartwig)

Divine Canine Jake

Dr. Hartwig and Ruggles

Courtesy of Dr. Elizabeth Hartwig

Collaboration: Partnering with the Student

Learning Assistance Center (tutoring center)

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Staff comment

“The dogs were the

highlight of my year.

They really made a

difference.”

Steps we followed

1) Buy-in of staff/administration

2) Form Therapy dog team (4 people)

3) Visit to UT campus for their pilot. Support of UT librarian Meghan Sitar.

4) Written proposal & letter to Environmental Health, Safety, and Risk Management office for exception to UPPS 04.05.10—no dogs on campus

Therapy dogs vs service dogs

5) Find therapy dog group to partner with

• They make sure dogs/owners are trained, certified,

and insured.

• They do the scheduling.

• Their services are offered by volunteers at no cost

• Google: therapy dog non-profit san antonio

(ex: Pet Partners, Therapy Dogs International)

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Executive Director Max Woodfin and Rosebud Volunteer Pat Matthews

and Rangerhttp://www.divinecanines.org/

6) Promotions (flyers, posters,

digital signs, website

banner, social media, radio,

local paper)

7) Assessment strategies

(survey, whiteboards)

8) Coordinate volunteers

9) Crowd control measures

10) Clean up

Divine Canine Jake & Texas State students (from

San Marcos Daily Record)

But how much did it cost?

from www.wikimedia.org

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Today’s talk

• Background

• Benefits of therapy dogs in the library

• Steps for starting a therapy dog program

Divine Canine Bailey and handler Cynthia at Texas State

Thanks for Listening!

Divine Canine Lucy (courtesy of Divine Canines)

References

Asel, A. (2013). The effects of therapy dog interactions on college students’ final exam related stress. Unpublished manuscript. Texas State University.

Ayala, E. (2013). Schools reopen in west with counselors, therapy dogs on hand. Retrieved April 17, 2014, from http://www.dallasnews.com/news/state/headlines/20130422-schools-reopen-in-

west-with-counselors-therapy-dogs-on-hand.ece;

Bell, A. (2013). Paws for a study break: Running an animal assisted therapy program at the Gerstein Science Information Centre. Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library & Information Practice

& Research, 8(1), 1-14. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ofm&AN=91566347&site=eds-

live&scope=site

A first in a world of second chances. (2012). Retrieved April 17, 2014, from

http://www.dogchannel.com/media/dog-news/2012/05/03/inmate-canine-therapy-dog-teams-recognized-by-therapy-dogs-international.aspx.pdf

Jones, C. (2013). S.F. airport offers therapy dogs for weary travelers. Retrieved 17 April, 2014, from http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/S-F-airport-offers-therapy-dogs-for-weary-5094899.php

Junge, C., & Ann MacDonald. (2011, July 22). Therapy dog offers stress relief at work. Harvard Health Blog. Retrieved 17 April 2014 from http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/therapy-dog-offers-

stress-relief-at-work-201107223111

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Marcus, D. A. (2013) The science behind animal-assisted therapy. Current Pain and Headache Reports, 17(4), 322- doi:10.1007/s11916-013-0322-2

Mawhiney, S. (2011, November). Dogs provide stress (and comic) relief . AALL. Spectrum. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lls&AN=70967674&site=ehost-live

Monty the therapy dog. (2012, June). AALL Spectrum. Retrieved from

http://aallspectrum.wordpress.com/2012/06/05/monty-the-therapy-dog/

Odendaal, J. S. J. (2000). Animal-assisted therapy — magic or medicine? Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 49(4), 275-280. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3999(00)00183-5

Pagonakis, J. (2013). Therapy dog trainers remember Chardon High School shooting tragedy one year later. Retrieved 17 April 2014 from http://www.newsnet5.com/news/local-news/oh-

geauga/therapy-dog-trainers-remember-chardon-high-school-shooting-tragedy-one-year-later

Reynolds, J. A., & Rabschutz, L. (2011). Studying for exams just got more relaxing—animal-assisted activities at the University of Connecticut Library. College & Undergraduate Libraries, 18(4), 359-367. doi:10.1080/10691316.2011.624934

Shupe, Ellen & Pung, S. K. (2011). Understanding the changing role of academic librarians from a psychological perspective: A literature review. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 37(5), 409-415. doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2011.06.005

Young, J. S. (2012). Pet therapy: Dogs de-stress students. Journal of Christian Nursing: A Quarterly Publication of Nurses Christian Fellowship, 29(4), 217-221. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cmedm&AN=2308 2615&site=eds-

live&scope=site