After working like a dog for four years at McMaster University, Liam has retired to life as, well, a dog.

Which is to say, he's doing pretty much exactly what he was doing before, except with far fewer people around him.

Liam has gone from being part of the furniture at McMaster — almost literally — to being on the furniture back home with Leeanne Romane, the university's learning support co-ordinator with the library instruction department.

Liam the library dog, as he's known, was a semi-regular visitor to the university's four libraries during the fall and winter terms, where his job was simply to help students and staff be happier and less stressed.

"Everybody adores him," said Romane. "He's just the most Zen dog."

Once every two weeks, Liam (a German shepherd-border collie cross) would accompany Romane to campus. For up to an hour at a time, he'd simply plop himself down in the Mills, Innis, Thode and Health Sciences libraries and let people sit around and pet him.

"It was a really nice way of community building," said Romane. "Whether they came in with their friends or they came in alone, all the students would sit around him and end up talking to each other.

"They would talk about how they missed their dog at home, so this was such a nice thing," she added. "It would make them feel better."

In fact, Liam became part of three different psychosocial research projects on campus to see if his presence helped reduce stress for students.

But Liam, 11, had a major health scare last November, and Romane decided it was time for him to retire from active duty.

His last day on the job was March 5, but there's still a retirement party to come. No chocolate for him, though.

Even though Liam is still part of her personal life, his retirement is bittersweet for Romane.

"I cry all the time about it," said Romane. "It was part of my professional identity for four years — I was the librarian with the dog.

"Now he's just a regular house dog," she added. "I hope he's happy as a regular house dog."

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Liam is a retiring therapy dog at Mills Library at McMaster University. | John Rennison, The Hamilton Spectator

It seems to be just as bittersweet for Liam.

"Every day he stands at the top of the stairs to see if he's coming to work with me," Romane said. "Now every day it's 'Nope, go back to bed.'"

Liam was unavailable for comment. He was sleeping. It seems he's slowly adjusting to his new life.

Romane isn't sure yet if the school will try to find a replacement for Liam. A suitable candidate has to be trained and associated with the Hamilton/Burlington SPCA.

It would also require a staff member with a certain amount of schedule flexibility.

"For those days he was there, I never got any work done," Romane said.

For those missing a Liam fix, fear not. He still has an active social media presence.

You can find him with the handles @liamatmac on Twitter and Instagram, and Liam at Mac on Facebook.

sbuist@thespec.com

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