Sit. Stay. Listen.

This might just be the cutest and most heart-warming library program I have ever encountered - children gaining self-confidence and improving their literacy skills by reading to dogs in the library.  According to an article in August's issue of American Libraries magazine, libraries across the United States (and some closer to home) are bringing registered therapy dogs into the library a couple times a month to listen to kids read.

  

The programs, with names such as "Read to Your Breed," "PAWS to Read," and "PAWS for a Story" provide a safe and nurturing environment for beginning and struggling readers.  While most children would find it an exciting change to read to a dog, the experience is especially beneficial for children who may be slower readers than their peers.  Since animals are perceived as uncritical, it is easier for a child to read to a dog than it is for them to read to a grownup.  Gloria Laube, a certified dog handler, noticed that children who read to dogs "become more confident readers as well as develop more self-confidence socially.  Some children who would barely whisper were reading normally after a few weeks" (Hartman, 2010).  Gloria is so passionate about the program that she started librarydogs.com, a website designed to encourage others to start up similar programs.

Now, some of you may be hesitant about bringing a dog into the library fearing that they might be messy or might misbehave, but this is why the programs only use trained therapy dogs.  Therapy dogs are trained to listen to commands and have calm temperaments that make children feel comfortable. They are also well groomed and have no problems staying on a leash.  The dogs used in Read to Your Breed (San Diego Public Library) stay on a leash and sit on a mat or blanket the whole time they are in the library.  Sunny, an 80 pound Collie even lets the children cuddle up to her while they read and is attentive during the story.  

I thought this was such a great idea that I did a bit more research on similar programs and discovered that Edmonton Public Library has already embraced this idea.  In collaboration with the Pet Therapy Society of Northern Alberta 14 out of 17 EPL branches present PAWS for a Story at least once a month.

Libraries looking to use therapy dogs in the library should check out:

PALS

http://www.palspets.com/

St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog Service http://www.sja.ca/Alberta/communityservices/programs/pages/TherapyDogService.aspx

Library Dogs

www.librarydogs.com

(Reference: Hartman, Anna. "Good Dog. Sit. Listen." American Libraries, August 2010 http://bit.ly/9qN6ta)

Unshelved Answers

I ran across a neat site today. It is called "Unshelved Answers" and the concept is quite simple. It's librarians doing what librarians do best - answering questions. It is a place for librarians and library staff to go and ask questions of other librarians, thus benefitting from the collective knowledge of the many librarians who contribute to the site. And of course, if you are one of those librarians who just isn't satisfied with how your detective skills were used on the frontline today, you can contribute too.

The site seems to be in a transition phase, but right now, anyone can post questions, comments, tags and answers, so it's easy to participate. And there aren't a lot of rules - it seems to be a casual, friendly site. The more specific your question though, the more likely you are to get a useful answer.

Here are some examples of recent questions posted (and answered) on the site:

• Suggestions for positive language to use with patrons - received 9 answers, including one library that prohibits food and drink who offers to put patron's beverages in the staff fridge for them until they leave and provide gumballs to replace gum or lollipops that were disposed of as the patrons entered the library.
• Youth library decorating ideas - one example posted was, "I always have one table covered with a large sheet of paper and a can of markers near by. In large letters, in the center of the paper I post a book related question. "What is your favorite book?", "What was the last book you read?", and others. It doesn't really matter what the question is, before you know it the paper will be full of colorful flowery (the girls particully [sic] like this) writing".

This is a great way to get opinions from a wide variety of other libraries and just see how others are handling tough situations where it's not always clear what to do. One of the most popular uses of the site seems to be questions posted about specific books patrons are looking for but for which they can't remember the title.

Ask your own question, or browse for existing questions and answers using the 'tag' section of the site. You can also subscribe to the 'recent question' feed via RSS (Lauren is teaching an upcoming workshop on this if you need to learn how).

Visit the site at: http://answers.unshelved.com

Mentally Prepping for the Futures Symposium

Over the last few weeks, I have spent a lot of time pondering library technologies and their future developments. As many of you know, Chinook Arch staff have been working away to bring you both BiblioCommons and a new website. Recently, however, I have also been investigating how to effectively plan for those technologies that will improve our services for you and your patrons.

In order to do so, I have been reading a variety of things and partaking in some educational opportunities. One of the most interesting resources I have come across has been “The Bookends Scenarios: Alternative Futures for the Public Library Network in NSW in 2030,” which Kerby Salberg sent to me and I would highly recommend. On the side, I have been reading Richard Florida’s new book “The Great Reset” and for the last six weeks I have been taking an Elements of Technology Management course from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

All of these activities have led me to wonder a few things. How do we prepare for what technologies are coming and how can we guess what your patrons will want? Right now there are many trends that are overhauling the current library landscape, which is still in flux. To make our best guesses about what will happen, we need to look to the patrons to see what they are doing right now and where we can do things better. Therefore, I would like to encourage you to turn your eyes to your own communities and observe what is happening and changing and share those observations with. If we wish to stay relevant in the future, we must consider what is happening today.

On that note, have a great long weekend!