AtoZ Blogging Challenge – Therapy Dog

Program Name: Paws to Read

What: This has been an extremely popular program during our Summer Reading program where elementary children get a chance to read aloud to our library’s therapy greyhound. This dog is fairly large, about 80lbs. but is the most gentle dog I’ve ever met -so calm and relaxed and absolutely loves spending time with the kids. And our therapy dog’s mom is also a library board member which is great for us and she does an amazing job, providing picture books to display for kids to read and spends time with each child answering questions about Star, our therapy dog and teaching the kids how to properly walk up to a dog and how to pet them.

Where: We offer this program in our children’s department which can at times be difficult, but we have learned how to navigate kids (who aren’t reading and just wants to pet the dog) and giving adequate time to each child to read – we usually give kids a 10-15 minute time slot to ensure that there are enough kids to read to Star and not to have him sitting in the library waiting for a long time between readers.

When: We offer this program during our summer reading program – one morning a week for six weeks during the summer for about 2 hours each session. We’ve tried this program throughout the school year and it’s difficult to get the kids to show-up after registering for the program so we tend to host it during the summer only.

Who: This program is geared toward elementary school who are learning to read or are fluent readers.

How: As I said, we have a library board member who has a therapy dog and donates her time to coming to the library during the summer, which we absolutely love, but this is not an uncommon program that many libraries have offered.

Alternatives:

• I’ve seen libraries partner with local SPCAs to encourage pet adoptions which would be a great program as my own pup is a rescue.
• I’ve also seen a number of universities offer time for students to cuddle with puppies or kitties during finals week as a way to decompress.

During the month of April, I’ll be participating in the 2018 Blogging from A to Z Challenge. For this year’s theme, I’ll be offering you a library program plan with everything you to need to re-create it at your own library. Most of these programs we’ve offered in the past, others are programs I’d like to try in the future. I’m always looking for new inspiration and I thought you might be too!