Service Animals at HPL

Hello,

Attached is a link to information regarding service animals as pertaining to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). HPL has always been committed to complying with ADA regulations, and as staff, it is important that we remain informed of issues relating to ADA compliance.

Here is a link to the U.S. Department of Justice's regulations regarding ADA and service animals: http://www.ada.gov/service_animals_2010.htm

Please review the attachment so that you are aware of what is expected of you in regards to service animals in the library. The most important points include:

• Service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities.  
• Only dogs are recognized as service animals under titles II and III of the ADA
• A service animal is a dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability.
• Service animals are permitted to accompany people with disabilities in all areas where members of the public are allowed to go.
• Service animals must be harnessed, leashed, or tethered, unless those devices interfere with the service animal's work or the individual's disability prevents using these devices. In that case, the individual must maintain control of the animal through voice, signal, or other effective controls.

Please also note that staff are only allowed to ask TWO questions to customers with service animals:

1. Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability?
2. What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?

Staff CANNOT ask about the person's disability, require medical documentation, require a special identification card or training documentation, or ask that the dog demonstrate its ability to perform the work or task.

A person with a disability CANNOT be asked to remove his service animal from the premises unless:

• the dog is out of control and the handler does not take effective action to control it
• the dog is not housebroken.

If there is a legitimate reason to ask that a service animal be removed, staff must offer the person with the disability the opportunity to obtain goods or services without the animal's presence.

Finally, people with disabilities who use service animals cannot be isolated from other patrons, treated less favorably than other patrons, or charged fees that are not charged to other patrons without animals.

More information is provided in the link above. More information about service animals can also be found here: http://www.dars.state.tx.us/serviceanimals.shtml.

Again: it is your responsibility to know this information and to treat customers using service animals in accordance with the ADA policy provided above and, as per HPL standard, exceptional customer service.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask me.

Thank you,

MR