[kids-lib] Program with Reading Assistance Dogs

[Campbell, Dana]

Hi Karl,
We have a R.E.A.D. program at the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library.  The teams are also very active in our local early elementary grades schools and during finals week at the local university.  During the school year we have the teams visit twice a month:  the 2nd Thursday and the 4th Saturday.  We also host special events with the dogs in which we celebrate R.E.A.D.  This year we had the R.E.A.D. teams visit on Valentines Day.  The R.E.A.D. teams purchased books through a local book store so every child who read to a dog went home with a new paperback book.  During the summer we have our local R.E.A.D. teams visit our library every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoon during the month of August.  Our formal summer reading program is wrapping up, the fair has happened and kids are looking for fun activities.  This has been highly successful for the last three summers.  I also have a little booklet which the kids collect stickers and the names of the dogs they read to throughout the summer.  This year we hope to have enough give away books to send home a book with each child at the end of August who has participated in the SR R.E.A.D. at least four times.  Details being worked out.  We once did appointments but I found that that was really time consuming for me.  Now it is a walk in process.  Be sure you have a release form for the children to read to a dog which has been signed by an adult.  This is your authorization form in case there is ever an incident.  The R.E.A.D. program is insured and the library carries a rider which has been covered by our city attorney. Also get a photo release signed so you can use pictures of local kids reading to dogs on your website and any publicity you might be running.
The R.E.A.D. program is a really good draw to the library.  We try to get an article in our local paper at least once a year and we post it in the community calendar which runs in the local newspaper as well as on the public side of Evanced.
Let us know if you have any questions.
Dana Campbell, Youth Services Librarian
Corvallis-Benton County Public Library


From: Kids-lib [mailto:kids-lib-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] On Behalf Of Karen Fischer
Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2014 12:34 PM
To: Karl Thang; kids-lib at listsmart.osl.state.or.us
Subject: Re: [kids-lib] Program with Reading Assistance Dogs

Hi Karl,
Welcome!  Salem Public Library has certified therapy dogs (and their owners!) drop in two Saturday afternoons each month for 1.5 hours.  We work with a group called "Paws for Love."  We sign children up, but we also allow drop-in readers.  The program started out one Saturday each month, but was so popular, that we added a second Saturday.  Some Saturdays we have one or two dogs and other Saturdays we have four or five, depending on our volunteer owners' schedules.  Salem has enjoyed our therapy dog visits for at least five years.  We highly recommend it!
Happy Reading,
Karen




Karen Fischer,
Youth Services Manager
Salem Public Library
503-588-6039
kfischer at cityofsalem.net<mailto:kfischer at cityofsalem.net>
>>> Karl Thang <karl at creswell-library.org<mailto:karl at creswell-library.org>> 3/25/2014 4:00 PM >>>
Hi, everyone!

I'm Karl, the new Youth Librarian in Creswell. I'm looking into bringing a Reading Assistance Dog (preferably from the READ program) for an event this year; has anyone implemented an event that connects the dots between service dogs + kids + reading? I'd love to hear from you! Did you connect with the READ program or did you have better luck reaching out to local veterinary organizations? What activities did you do -- was it a 'storytime with a dog' or something more involved, like letting kids read to the dog?

Any info would be appreciated. Thank you in advance!

--
Karl Thang | Youth & Community Services Librarian, Creswell Library

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