Yesterday, Sadie and I went to the library to pick up some books that I’d placed on hold. We’re one of the two READing dog teams at the library, so I routinely take her with me when I run in to pick up my books. It helps advertise the READ program and keeps Sadie familiar with the library spaces. I try to go when it’s not busy, keep her on a tight leash and be respectful of other patrons. We get lots of pets and smiles from the staff. We’re there maybe 5-10 minutes.

During our visit, I was informed by library staff that a patron had complained about “dogs” being in the library. Going forward, Sadie will only be allowed in the library for official READ visits while wearing her vest. This was communicated to me in front of various library visitors as I was checking out (a tad embarrassing perhaps?). I was also told this decision had come from much higher up. In the interest of equity, all dog owners were being informed of this policy.

I’ve been a volunteer since 2015 and this is the first time I’ve been told I can’t bring my dog into the library unless she’s in her vest and on an official visit. This really sucks. I was told that Sadie and I had done nothing wrong and staff loved our visits. Regardless, the new policy would be applied so that it was equitable to everyone. My personal experience has been that I somehow get shortchanged whenever the word equity is involved. Nothing’s changed.

My initial reaction was anger and I’m still stewing a day later. Sadness and a sense of loss have now crept in. My personal connection to this library and its staff has been drastically altered as a result of the policy change. I do other volunteering outside of the READ program. Not so sure I want to continue volunteering in that capacity here once my 3 remaining commitments for this school year are behind me.

Update: I’ve returned to volunteering in a therapy dog team only capacity at this library. All other opportunities, save one existing April commitment, have been declined. Call it my way of protesting the new policy.

This past week was a hard one for me, but what happened provided two very important realizations: (1) I took the “no-dogs” decision personally, which I should not have and (2) this facility doesn’t provide any special volunteer consideration the way other organizations do (t-shirt, event passes, free membership, special programs, etc.). My previous library READ assignment did offer some goodies, including being able to bring my dog in whenever I visited one of the two branches where we served as a therapy dog team. I never realized how important the “bring my dog” privilege was until it was rescinded two weeks ago. Silly me, my expectation was than an exception would be carved out for the library’s two therapy dogs. Nope! Hard lesson; however, this is when I realized I have more invested in this facility than it does in me. I’ll continue to do the READ program for Sadie and the kids who benefit from the program. Moving forward, I’ll have no hesitation about switching to a school-based READ program should one become available locally for the upcoming school year.