PAWS to Read at Centennial Park Library gives
young readers a captive and accepting audience
By: Meghan E. Murphy

Deni, a 4-year-old mottled gray schnauzer, leans his nose into the book Celeste Melendez (pictured above) is reading, tickling her nose and blocking the words with his shaggy beard. She giggles and cranes her head to continue reading, quickly and quietly, "it was Christmas eve in Brooklyn and it was raining it had been raining for weeks and the cactus that lived on the streets were sticking up . . ."

Deni and Melendez are part of the Centennial Library's PAWS to Read program, where kids sit on bean bags and tell stories to trained therapy dogs and a handler. Modeled after a program in Windsor, PAWS provides a nonjudgmental ear that kids look forward to whispering into, prompting students to enjoy reading and improve their skills.

Research shows that students who participated in similar programs improved their reading skills. In the Carolina Canines for Service project, 15 second-graders who tested below grade level for reading fluency were paired with a dog once a week for 20 minutes. Most improved their reading by at least two grade levels, according to a report in the Early Childhood Education Journal.

Assistant librarian Kristi Madron first brought therapy dogs to Centennial last July during the summer reading program. They were so popular, she recruited more handlers. Last Monday, kids choose to read to five different dogs, including a labrador, husky and an American eskimo.

Melendez paused on a word, trying to sound it out, then looking up at Deni's handler, Jean Richards.

"Dublin," Richards says sweetly. "That's a city in Ireland."

Richards is a retired elementary school teacher with a comforting, grandmotherly smile and pillowy white hair. She and Deni visit nursing homes and hospitals, too, but the library is one of Richards' favorite therapy programs. "This is very refreshing because it's with children," she said.

And for children, it's refreshing because of the dogs. A number of experiments have shown that the presence of a dog reduces stress. And research estimates that more than 70 percent of children of all ages confide in animals.

"Therapy dogs put people at ease and make people feel better about themselves," said Kelli Johnson, spokeswoman for the Weld Library District.

Celeste's mother, Terri Rodriquez, thought the therapy dogs could help her daughter be comfortable reading aloud in class. A second-grader at Cameron Elementary School, Celeste is starting to be called on in class, a daunting assignment for a shy 8-year-old. And the other kids in the class can be childishly critical.

"I want her to feel confident in herself," Terri said.

Rodriguez also thought the gentle therapy dogs could help with her daughter's fear of dogs. Celeste loves looking at her four-legged friend but is nervous about getting close. But Deni sat close to her feet as she sped through chapter one of her book.

At the end of her 15 minutes, Richards handed Celeste a heart-shaped dog treat for Deni. Celeste pulled down the sleeve of her shirt, protecting her hand from Deni's mouth, and offered him the treat. Once he'd finished it Celeste ran to the husky at the next bean bag over, hoping to read to her next.