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President's Update - December 10, 2015

Allow me, please, to share the silly highlight of my week -- a tiny dog wearing a tiny cowboy hat sitting on a miniature horse outside our library.

Like many academic libraries, Olson Library collaborates with a local therapy pet organization for an evening of smiles and wags to help students cope with the stress of final exams. This semester we had a special visitor, Dixie the mini-horse, who was perfectly comfortable with her friend Clara sitting on her back. Needless to say, Dixie, Clara and all the other therapy dogs were quite popular on campus.

Tiny dog riding mini horse

I firmly believe that silliness is an important part of campus and the workplace in general. Silliness -- in moderation, of course -- fosters creativity, inspires conversation and distracts from stress. I love watching our students take a break from intense studying to interact with the therapy dogs and the therapy mini-horse. The students talk to the dogs, talk to each other and talk to the library staff. Everyone smiles.

Many of us no longer face final exams, but I suspect that all of us face challenging conversations and difficult situations in our jobs. I find that those challenges are more manageable if they are broken up with laughter.

Since I don’t always have access to a tiny dog wearing a tiny hat sitting on mini-horse, I keep a few slingshot monkeys in my desk. These toys have elastic arms that allow them to propel through the air while making a crazy monkey noise. When a member of my staff has to face something exasperating (as we sometimes do), a toy monkey flying through the air may be the only possible response.

Several members of my staff proudly display in their offices a monkey that was earned by facing (and surviving) a difficult situation. It serves as a symbol of the absurdity that can happen in a dynamic environment such as a library. It also serves as a reminder that we were able to laugh together and keep going forward together.

Long live silliness!

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