Anticipating a stressful final exams week, Santa Barbara City College’s Luria Library will be letting students “check out a dog” from among the dozen or so Love on a Leash–certified therapy dogs that will be there this Wednesday from 2:30-4 p.m. “We are always looking for creative and positive ways to serve our students, particularly during finals,” said Elizabeth Bowman, the library director, in a press release, and past years have included a “relaxation station” featuring Wii, hula hoops, rocking chairs, and games.
Working with All for Animals, an area nonprofit that lets young people experience the human-animal bond, City College hopes that the dogs will lower cortisol stress hormones and increase endorphins, or “happiness” hormones — all to improve students’ abilities to retain information for the exams week that follows.