lifelinebooks:

Heartwarming Library Story

THIS IS NOT MY STORY. I HAVE PERMISSION TO POST IT HERE.

Once upon a time, in a library that shall remain nameless to protect the guilty…

There was an older gentleman who used to come in every week faithfully.  He would come into the Library while his wife remained outside in the car.  Rain or shine, freezing or sweltering, she would stay in the car.  The staff learned that he was there specifically to pick up books for her – so they asked why she didn’t come into the library to choose her own materials.

“Oh, no,” he said.  “You see, my wife has Alzheimer’s and she has terrible social anxiety.  The only way she will leave the house at all is with her little dog.  He’s not a registered Service Dog, so we can’t bring him into a government building. But she simply can’t come in without him.  You know, the Library used to be her favorite place. She came here every week for years.  But don’t worry – she doesn’t mind.  Just being at the library building helps, and it gets her out of the house.”

This level of inclusion was, understandably, intolerable to the Library staff.  They were prepared to stage a revolt, if the Director hadn’t been as perturbed as they were.

So, the Director wracked her brain, consulted her colleagues, and finally came up with a solution – they would buy a dog vest and keep it behind the circulation desk.  When the lady and her dog came in, he would be deputized as a Reading Buddy – they would sew a patch on his vest and everything.  Friends of the Library got word of it and promptly bought the vest.  In colors to match the library’s color scheme.  And the dog’s name embroidered on it.

When the gentleman came to the library, the circulation person explained to him that they had found a way to get the dog in.  He went and got his wife, coaxing her to come in and explaining that she could have her little dog right by her side, in her purse, wherever she wanted him.  The dog was vested, the lady teared up… there may have been a small puddly-type accident from the dog, he was so tickled, and the Director was grateful she had chosen to invest in tile during the last renovation.  And so Charlie the Reading Buddy was added to the library staff.  And every week that couple came in, together, both happy that she could be in her favorite place again, and that Charlie could stay by her side as she perused the Romances and pondered the Audiobooks.

And this, dear readers, is why I work in a small-town library where we get to know our patrons and we do good service according to their needs. Even if that means we don’t adhere rigidly to every policy every time.

-C.G.

Thank you for reading. This story made me tear up and gave my heart warm fuzzy feelings. I hope it made you feel good inside too.