The Prince George Public Library is going to the dogs.
Beginning March 25 and continuing each Tuesday through May 13, the library's Bob Harkins branch is offering a unique opportunity for young readers to practice reading aloud.
The Reading Tails program partners with RCMP Victim Services to pair children ages seven to nine with therapy dogs. During each participant's free two-week session, readers can get cozy with Max the golden retriever or Grimmus the German shepherd and work on their reading skills.
"There's many children that struggle with reading and there's some reluctant readers out there," said children's librarian Kaitlyn Vardy, who got the idea of creating a non-judgmental reading environment from other libraries that run programs with therapy dogs. "Studies have shown when you talk to an animal or when you pet an animal... it calms you down. And what we're hoping is when we have these children reading to these dogs, it's going to allow them to not feel self conscious."
Being able to read aloud is an important part of literacy, said library communications co-ordinator Andrea Palmer. Her own daughter underwent literacy testing and while her level was high, she was found to occasionally skip words.
"And when you get children to read out loud they're less likely to skip words that they may have difficulty understanding or pronouncing," said Palmer. "[Using therapy dogs] is just a wonderful way for a child to feel engaged and empowered by having an audience that adores them no matter how they pronounce their words."
Library staff seem to be barking up the right tree with this initiative, based on the positive response.
There are only 16 spots left for young readers. Each session is 30 minutes long (available between 2:30 and 4:30 p.m.) and participants must pre-register by calling the library at 250-563-9251 ext. 108.
