Yale Law Library Puts Monty in the Catalog

The Yale Law School Library is going to run a three-day pilot program at the end of March that will allow stressed-out students to check out Monty, a certified therapy dog.

The story was first reported by Elie Mystal on the Above the Law blog, including pictures and catalog listings. But when Yale officials were contacted Wednesday about Monty, a border terrier mix, they were strangely tight-lipped.

"We can confirm that the Law Library is, in fact, doing this pilot program with Monty, the therapy dog, but beyond that, we have nothing to add," Kathy Colello, the news director in the Office of Public Affairs, told LJ.

The school did share the following announcement from Blair Kauffman, the law librarian, which went out to all students:

The law library intends to run a three day pilot program starting on March 28, 2011 during which students will be able to "check out" our certified library therapy dog, Monty for thirty minute periods. We hope that making a therapy dog available to our students will prove to be a positive addition to current services offered by the library. It is well documented that visits from therapy dogs have resulted in increased happiness, calmness, and overall emotional well-being. http://www.tdi-dog.org/About.aspx?Page=Information+for+Facilities

Beginning March 21, 2011, a sign-up sheet with additional information will be available at the circulation desk for students wishing to check out Monty. Even though Monty is hypoallergenic, visits will be confined to a dedicated non-public space in the library to eliminate potential adverse reactions from any library user who might have dog-related concerns. We are committed to ensuring our library remains a welcoming and comfortable environment for all our users.

Finally, we will need your feedback and comments to help us decide if this will be a permanent on-going program available during stressful periods of the semester, for example during examinations. Please feel free to contact us at anytime at lawlib.admin@yale.edu or stop by the library administrative suite in room 300 to speak with the Librarian.

Sincerely

Blair Kauffman, Law Librarian

Kauffman also declined to comment.