Service dogs

I am a librarian with some preservation responsibilities, but with
only a basic background in preservation/conservation, and I am
hoping to take advantage of your collective expertise.

Has anyone on the list had past experience with service dogs (or
other animals) in special collections?  Assuming the dogs to be
well-behaved and well-groomed, does their presence introduce
additional environmental/preservation concerns?  If there are
preservation concerns, what steps that can be taken to ameliorate
the effects of the animal's presence?  I am interested in
perspectives on these questions with regard not only to the reading
room, but to workroom and stacks areas.

I should note that although I am currently asking this with regard
to a hypothetical situation, there is a possibility that may become
actual.

Juli McLoone
Rare Books Librarian
University of Texas at San Antonio


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 25:37
                 Distributed: Sunday, February 12, 2012
                       Message Id: cdl-25-37-035
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