CORNWALL, Ontario – Saturday, April 7 marks the first weekend in 2018 that the Cornwall Library hosts their Paws’N Books program with the purpose of helping children practice their reading skills.
The Paws’N Books program is designed to help children who have difficulty reading by practicing to a therapy dog.
For the dog, it is basically getting an hour of attention.
“The purpose of having a dog listen to a child read is that dogs are not judgemental; they are not going to stop the child or tell them they are doing it wrong,” said Leslie Corbay the manager of the Youth Services at the library.
Paws’N Books is made possible by the volunteers and the therapy dogs of the St. John Ambulance and Compassion Canines.
This weekend, Monique Ayotte with the St. John Ambulance brought Nukka, a therapy husky to be read to.
“It’s interesting! It’s fun, I find it helps the kids open up and read to the dog,” said Monique.
This isn’t Nukka’s show as she has been read to by children for the last 3 years and had performed exceptionally well during this weekend’s program.
In previous years, the free program has brought in a maximum of 40 children with some Saturdays bringing less than 10 depending on the other events the library has to offer.
“It’s super great! The kids absolutely love it and the dogs are appropriately aloof during the entire process,” explained Leslie Corbay.
Paws’N Books program will continue to run every Saturday until June of this year.
The program attracts attention from the whole Library as it is not every day that a dog is read to by a child.
