Skip to content

Airdrie library's Listening Tales program has tails wagging in support of young readers

Each Friday at the Airdrie Public Library (APL), local kids who are struggling to learn how to read get some key moral support from their furry buddies of the Chestermere-based Community Therapy Dog Society.

Each Friday at the Airdrie Public Library (APL), local kids who are struggling to learn how to read get some key moral support from a canine companion, thanks to the Chestermere-based Community Therapy Dog Society.

“Listening Tales” has been an ongoing weekly program at APL since 2018, but was forced to go on hiatus for a few years during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Over the past year, the program has come roaring back in popularity, and sessions with the specially trained therapy dogs are generally booked several months in advance.

“It was an immediate hit,” said Wyatt Tremblay, communications coordinator for APL. “A child can pick their favourite book, and it's [for] children who are in grades 3 to 5. They may be struggling with reading out loud or reading comprehension. They book a spot with one of the therapy dogs and they come in, sit down and they read to the dogs.” 

According to Tremblay, the therapy technique has been recognized as extremely effective since first being introduced in the late 1990s. It builds the child’s confidence, helps them overcome anxiety, and provides the children with a cute, fuzzy audience who will not judge them in any way, shape or form.

“Educators realized that sitting down with a dog who is non-judgmental, and, you know just adores you, was a really positive experience for young readers who might be struggling with reading and reading comprehension,” stated Tremblay, who added the positive results of the program have spoken for themselves.

Listening Tales is one of the library’s most sought after and praised programs, confirmed Tremblay, though the library only currently has space for a very limited number of children to take advantage of it. 

Each week, four new children are brought in to spend 30 minutes reading to one of two therapy dogs. Two children in the first 30-minute session read to each of the dogs in separate areas of the APL’s McCall Room, and then the two other children read to the dogs in the second 30-minute session.

Tremblay said the dogs chosen for the program are of more compact size so as not to be intimidating to the young readers. They also have to have the right disposition to sit there patiently while the child reads.

“They are wonderful, well mannered, sort of very amiable little canines,” he said, before crediting the Community Therapy Dog Society for picking just the right reading buddies for the kids. “They are mid-sized or smaller dogs, and it's so cute. They just sit there and they stare at the child.” 

While the current learning space at the library is limited, and the sessions tend to be booked up months in advance, Tremblay said APL may well be looking to greatly expand the program once the new library building in Airdrie is constructed and in operation. The new facility, housed in the former firehall on Main Street, is slated to open in 2025.

In the meantime, Tremblay encourages Airdrie parents to maybe even try to have their kids read to their own dogs at home if they can’t book a Listening Tales session at the library. 

“You don't need a library program to do this,” he said. “If you have a nice, quiet, patient kind of dog, you could sit there with your child, and have the child read to the dog. Because it's non-judgmental, right? Children really feel comfortable doing that, and parents see results.” 


Tim Kalinowski

About the Author: Tim Kalinowski

Read more



Comments

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks