Convincing reluctant readers to improve their literacy can be difficult. At libraries in and around Bloomington, staff have enlisted man’s best friend to help.
Bloomington Public Library [BPL], Carlock Public Library District and Towanda District Library all have programs where youth can read to therapy dogs to help beat reading anxiety or discomfort. Libraries across the nation have similar programs.
BPL calls its program Tales for Tails, with youth K through 5 reading to dogs for 15 minutes each.
“It’s kind of designed in mind with reluctant readers or readers who are not super confident, and we give them the space to read whatever they’d like and have a really comforting animal nearby,” said children’s librarian Alex Bell, who runs the Tales program that's been around about a dozen years.
Bell said it’s about providing youth positive reading experiences to encourage overall literacy.
Program director Piper Arington manages the Read to Dogs initiative at Towanda District Library that has run on the same model for around five years. Arington, who has led the group for about two years, said reading to an animal “takes a lot of the pressure away from reading.”
“Because they’re not necessarily reading to a person that’s going to say ‘Oh, you mispronounced that’ or, ‘You missed that word there,’” she, said. “It’s really just about them getting… the rhythm of reading without being interrupted.”
Most of the time, Arington said, youth will read with one hand holding the book open, and the other resting on the dog.
That’s almost exactly how Brittany Broker’s daughter treated her time with the Great Pyrenees Hakuna Matata at BPL’s most recent Tales for Tails. Broker said she started taking her daughter to the library’s sessions because she noticed her child was struggling with reading and at school.
“This was a really nice way for her to start reading to somebody,” Broker said — emphasizing the word, since the somebody was really a dog — “who made her feel safe.”
Broker said after just one time attending, her daughter began showing enthusiasm for reading — and the library.
“She actually will practice reading at home, because she wants to be prepared for when she’s reading to the dog,” Broker said. “She really enjoys the attention she gets to give them, so it’s something she looks forward to.”
Broker said she owns two dogs, but the interaction with the therapy dogs at the library is different.
At BPL, Bell said the therapy dogs that participate are certified through the Alliance of Therapy Dogs, so they’re all well trained. Handlers volunteer alongside their dogs.
Dogs at the Towanda library are trained through the same program, though they come through the HOPE Therapy Dogs of Central Illinois.
“So they're very good with kids, and let them pet them and kind of help give them a sense of calm,” Bell said. “Sometimes excitement, if they're dog people, which sometimes they are.”
Even if the dog is up and alert, there’s no running around or barking during reading time. Handlers sit with the leashed dogs and facilitate interactions with the youth.
Hakuna Matata is only a year old and participated in the program for the first time and stayed calm. Her owner and handler Ashley Lerma said she dozed off a few times.
“She likes to apparently be read to sleep,” Lerma said.
Many of the children gravitate toward Hakuna Matata — Kuna, for short. Lerma said it was probably because of her size. Great Pyrenees are well-known as big dogs.
Lerma said she intends to continue bringing Kuna to Tales for Tails.
“We got her with the intention of doing therapy work… and now we’re out in the world helping others and we really enjoy it,” she said.
Kuna, much like the other dogs that go to BPL, frequents other community spaces as well.
Carol Denker’s golden doodle, Bubba, goes to the library, schools and nursing homes in town. Denker as an owner has been going to Tales for Tails since its inception.
She said therapy dogs can be a mood booster.
“Say, a person is having a really bad day,” she said. “They come in and they see Bubba, they immediately just light up.”
Kalyn Patterson and Megan Patterson started taking their daughter to Tales for Tails because of this. Kalyn said the couple had been having a hard time engaging their daughter in activities, but the therapy dogs excited her.
“We're actually big supporters of any type of therapeutic support that we can give our kiddos,” Kalyn said. “It's a difficult world to live in, so any positive influence and activity or engagement opportunity that they can have, we want them to participate — as long as they're willing.”
Having the dogs’ handlers around also promotes social learning. Piper Arington at Towanda library said the youth will often engage with the owners, asking questions like “what’s their name?” and “how old are they?”
Owners also will help when youth stumble on words, if needed.
Lauren Morris said this is what happened when her daughter Callie Morris attended her first Tales for Tails this week. She said it’s good for her daughter to start “practicing reading out loud with someone who… she didn't know.” Morris said her daughter took her time reading the book as well.
Callie said she enjoyed when June — the dog — “put her head like right around my ankle,” while she read. Her brother Deacon got to enjoy Bubba’s company — and his “very fluffy” hair — he said.
The Morrises said they’ll come back for another chapter the next time Tales for Tails comes around.
Bell said she is constantly workshopping the program to give youth the best experience, so it may look different next time. She moved it outdoors to Miller Park Pavilion during the library’s construction, and is still finding the best place to hold the program now that renovations are complete.
To register for the reading with dogs programs at Bloomington, Carlock and Towanda libraries, go to their websites for instructions. Towanda’s next Read to Dogs is 5 p.m. July 30, and Carlock’s next Pages and Paws is 4:30 p.m. Aug. 8. Bloomington’s Tales for Tails resumes in September.
