Service animals are welcome in the Harrington Learning Commons. Santa Clara University Library is committed to ensuring that library visitors with disabilities are afforded equal access to the library's services.
Service animals are dogs or miniature horses that are trained to perform tasks for people with disabilities. For more information about service animals, please visit the Americans with Disabilities Act information pages. An assistance animal, such as an emotional support animal, is not a service animal and is not permitted in the building. Please refer to the Office of Accessible Education pages for the definition of assistance versus service animal.
The ADA requires that the service animals must be harnessed, leashed or tethered while in a public area unless the leash or tethering device interferes with the ability of the animal to perform its task. In that case the handler must retain control of the animal at all times through voice, signal or other means.
Service animals must not display disruptive or aggressive behaviors which interfere with other people's use of library services and facilities.
If a service animal's behaviors or actions pose an unreasonable or direct threat to the health or safety of others, or do not conform to these guidelines Library Help Desk supervisors may request that the animal be removed from the Learning Commons. If the service animal is excluded from the Learning Commons, the individual with the disability is welcome to stay and will be reasonably accommodated by Library staff.
Learning Commons patrons are expected to adhere to Santa Clara University's community standards & student conduct code. Non-compliance with these standards can be grounds for a request to leave the Learning Commons.
When someone brings a dog into the Learning Commons and it is not obvious that the dog is a service animal, library staff may only ask the following two questions.
- "Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability?"
- "What work or task is this dog trained to perform?"