Meet Jake, an 8-year-old golden retriever, owned by Canton Police Sergeant Kenny Drinan.

Jake has a following in Canton. Once a month you will find him with his owner at the Canton Public Library where Jake meets all the children in the children's room to read stories together.

Jake is no ordinary dog. He is very special dog and has an outstanding temperament.

 "Jake had to go through an 8-week training program, but so did I," said Drinan. "And the TDI (Therapy Dogs International) are stringent.
They want to make sure that your dog can handle loud noises and other animals as well. They put Jake in another room where he couldn't see me, to see how he would do on his own."

"This will be our 47th visit to the Canton Public Library. At 50 visits we have to document them and turn it in to the TDI. We also visit schools and hospitals," continued Drinan.

So how did this come about, Drinan bringing Jake to read with the kids in Canton?

 "Originally this was an idea for my own three children to give back to the community," said Drinan. "We live in Mansfield and went to the Mansfield Library where we saw a woman and her dog reading with the children. So, I thought it would be such a wonderful way to give back to the community and since the Canton Public Library didn't offer anything like this, I would do it. As far as my kids helping out, well, you have to be 18-years old to work with the TDI so Jake is with me since I'm over 18!"

Drinan and Jake are at the Canton Public Library once a month during the school year. Go to the library calendar to learn of upcoming dates.

If you have any photos of Jake that you would like to add, upload them to this story or email them to margaret.carroll-bergman@patch.com.