DOGS! (Pet a Pup: Library Study Break)

(I apologize right from the get-go for internet yelling at you in the title, but I'm super-excited about how well our program just went off! Plus, dogs are awesome.)

This week is finals week (yes, already!), and, while our computer labs and study rooms are definitely packed, we know that the bulk of the projects/group work/stressful assignments happen the week before finals. That is why we scheduled our "Pet a Pup: Library Study Break" program for Monday and Thursday of last week.  We contacted Paws & Effect and arranged to have their handlers bring in two therapy dogs in-training to help Grand View University students reduce their stress levels with a couple of study breaks. They came in on Monday 4/14/14 & Thursday 4/17/14.  I'll bore you with the details at the bottom of this post, but I wanted to give you a visual representation of how the program was received by students (and see more photos on our Facebook page):

  

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plus, our University Videographer, Todd Bailey, was amazing and came by early on during the Monday event, got some great footage, and put together this video by noon that same day! It was so nice to be able to send that out as publicity for Thursday's event!

Here are a few statistics:

Total Attendance

• Attendees: 218
• Surveys completed & returned: 171
• 78% survey completion rate

Total Self-reported Stress Levels (Scale of 1-10 with 10 being extremely stressed, 1 being not stressed at all)

• Average incoming stress level: 6.696
• Average outgoing stress level: 3.204
• Average decrease of stress level: 3.492

Responses to the Question: “Is this something you would like to see the library do again?”

• 100% of respondents, 171 surveys, indicated, yes, this is something they would like to see the library do again. 
• 0% indicated they were unsure of whether this event should continue in the future. 
• 0% indicated they would not like to see this event continue in the future. 

How Students Learned of the Event (could indicate multiple)

• 70% - Email (120)
• 33% - Friend (57) 
• 23% - Posters (40)
• 15% - Grand Views (University Newspaper) Article (26)
• 8% - Facebook (13)
• 7% - I just happened to be around the library during the event (12)
• 3% - Twitter (5)
• 1% - Other (2)

(The social media numbers make sense, given we only just created our Facebook page after Thursday's event, and don't currently have a Twitter account for the library.)

And here are some of my favorite comments students wrote on their surveys:

• <3 Paws & Effect
• Bring more dogs!
• Do it every month
• Great idea! Good for the dogs AND students.
• I had a great time with the dogs.
• I love dogs & think having dogs around is a great stress reliever
• I love dogs! GV should do it again!
• I loved the dogs and this made me happy! :)
• It's very calming.
• Thank you! This is a fabulous event that I hope continues!
• They were wonderful and very friendly. It was nice to relax with some dogs much like the one I have back home.
• This is a WONDERFUL event! I love this idea. Thanks so much!
• This is such a great idea! Please, please, do this again. Who doesn't love dogs? Plus it's a great way to get volunteers for Paws & Effect! 
• Awesome idea-now if there was just a way to give every student a dog...
• Do this more often, please!
• Great idea! Do it at midterms, too! 
• I love dogs they always make me smile and forget the bad things going on!
• I think this is a wonderful way to relieve stress and also a way to gain knowledge about something unique. 
• It was so nice having the dogs here! This should happen more often! :)
• It's a great idea, especially black labs!!
• LOVED IT (With a paw print drawn next to their comment) 
• Thank you! It's a great way to break up a stressful time by seeing & petting the dogs. 
• The pups were a great way to just relax and forget about school work
• This is the best! We need more of this! (Is this something you'd like to see the library do again? Yes with “Please do it again!!!” written in.)
• This was a great idea! I LOVE dogs and they made me feel so much better! <3
• We should have dogs in the library all the time not just finals! :) Love it

I also want to say a big thank-you to the Psychology Club and the GV chapter of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) for their volunteer and financial help with this program! 

If anyone is interested in the nitty-gritty details of putting a program like this together (something I've been working on since December), I've tried to document everything along the way and am happy to share that information with you!