Peggy Goforth knew the Madison County Public Library needed a new policy governing service animals when a man walked into the Marshall branch carrying a bag of snakes.

“Another patron kept noticing the bag and she told us she was going to have to leave because a man’s got a bag with a snake in it,” the library’s interim director and administrative manager. The woman, Goforth remembered, spoke in the singular. “She said, ‘A snake.’”

Slithering surprise

After approaching the card-carrying library patron, Goforth asked him about the bag. “He said, ‘My pets are harmless. Here, let me show you.’ And he poured them all out on the front desk. They just wriggled everywhere.”

Goforth, a Big Pine native who has worked with the Madison County Library more than 20 years, was stunned. “I admit, I did take a step back. I was expecting one snake, not a bag full of snakes.

"He probably had a dozen snakes in that bag. They were all different kinds. He had pythons and boas and he was just very proud of his snakes. He had to pick each one up, tell me their names and how long he had them. It was almost like listening to a person talk about their children.”

While Goforth empathized with the relationship the man had with his pets — “To him, they were like a dog or cat would be to us. He cared about them just the same.” — she explained that, especially with other people’s fear of snakes, he could be causing a harmful situation for others.

“We treated him with respect, but at the same time, we couldn’t have the snake — particularly a bag of snakes — in the library," she said.

“I told him, 'We realize you love your pets, but we don’t allow pets in the library.' He was really nice about it. He just bagged up all the snakes and left.”

Animals in the library

The story of the bag of snakes from last winter is just one Goforth has of patrons bringing animals into the library. In just the past year or so, she’s seen a monkey, a rat, spiders, an iguana, a ferret, parrots, chicken, gerbils, guinea pigs, hamsters, dogs, cats and more.

“You would think that nothing like that would be at the library, but it’s just amazing,” she said. “We had one person bring in an ant farm and he had taken the little top out of it to feed that ants while he was back in the corner. He forgot to put the little lid back on and the ants got everywhere.”

While Goforth can now tell stories of animals at the library with a smile, the unexpected visitors can have serious consequences. “The snakes, that’s what got us in trouble,” she said. “There was another woman in the library, it absolutely frightened the lady so badly that we had to call 911.”

Not all pet owners were as understanding as the man with the bag of snakes, either. Goforth said another man with a snake wrapped around his arm had been asked by staff to leave on multiple occasions. After walking back into the library, still with the snake on his arm, he tried to claim his pet was a "seeing-eye snake."

"I just looked at him," Goforth deadpanned. "He looked at me and said, 'I don't think that'll fly, will it.' And I said, 'I don't think so.' He said, "Well, I guess I should take my seeing eye snake back outside."

New policy

The pet problem has grown so out of control that Goforth appeared before the Madison County Board of Commissioners Oct. 8 to advocate for a new policy that limits animals in the library to service dogs. Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the new policy that follows guidelines outlined in the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Under the new rules, only service dogs “individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability” are allowed inside Madison County libraries. The policy specifically states that all other animal species are excluded, including animals used for “emotional support, well-being, comfort or companionship.”

Library staff can now point to the policy when confronting the growing number of patrons bringing their pets to the library.

“We’re definitely seeing an increase in people bringing their animals to the library,” Goforth said. “You see that in other places that we visit, too. Even going out shopping now, I see it at Lowe's and Walmart where people are bringing their pets. I don't think they're as diverse as what we're getting at the library, but who knows? They could be bringing their snakes when I'm not there shopping.”

In addition to the new policy, the bag of snakes situation has given Goforth a little more courage when dealing with reptiles.

"I'm terrified of snakes still, but for some reason, I got more strength if I see them," she said.

The library has also picked up more books on the animals no longer allowed inside the stacks.

"We actually have gotten more books on snakes," Goforth said. "You never know what you're going to find at the public library."