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U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern’s main library on Landstuhl Regional Medical Center has gone to the dogs – but only from 3:30 to 5 p.m. the third Tuesday of every month.
Man’s best friend is the star attraction of the garrison’s new Paws & Pals reading program.
A first for Army Europe libraries, Paws & Pals pairs young readers with volunteer dogs to build children’s confidence in reading, said Shawn Friend-Begin, the garrison’s supervisory librarian.
“There’s always a need for programs to assist children in becoming strong readers,” Ms. Friend-Begin said. “One way to succeed in life is to be a good reader.”
Close to 20 parents and their children, along with three volunteers and their dogs, participated in the first Paws & Pals held Jan.19 at the garrison’s main library.
The next Paws & Pals will be held Feb. 16, and four volunteers and their dogs are expected to be there, said Mike Colarusso, the garrison’s librarian and manager for the main library on LRMC.
Each child gets a one-on-one 15-minute session with one dog, Mr. Colarusso said.
The program is recommended for underage and under-grade level readers, said Kristin James, from the garrison’s Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation management finance section.
Keeping her children’s attention was one of the aspects of this new program that really appealed to Rachelle Hitchler, who was reading “The Twelve Days of Christmas” to her four children, ages 6 months to 6 years.
Getting the attention was Mikey, a 7-year-old female mixed breed, as she lounged while Annika Hitchler, 6, and Bryce Hitchler, 3, petted her light reddish-brown coat.
“Big and fluffy,” is how Annika described Mikey. Bryce kept petting Mikey, waiting for his turn to read to her. He brought his own book, “Care Bears: How Does Your Garden Grow?”
When Ms. Hitchler began reading, Mikey sat up and perked her ears and all four children were quiet. The children continued to pet Mikey.
“Even when they are petting the dog, I know they are taking in every word I’m saying,” Ms. Hitchler said. “It’s hard sometimes to get children to sit down and pay attention so it’s nice to have an attention getter.”
How this program got rolling was when Ms. James brought the idea up to Ms. Friend-Begin and Mr. Colarusso.
“My niece was in a library dog program back in the states and she enjoyed reading and the fact that she got one-on-one time with a dog,” Ms. James said.
Also, she said her dog Maverick, an 8-year-old male Australian Shepherd, had been involved in other reading programs.
Ms. James is the one who is organizing volunteers and their dogs. What she is looking for in dogs for this program are those that have “basic canine good citizenship characteristics.”
Dog owners interested in volunteering for the program can e-mail Kristin.k.james@eur.army.mil.
Parents interested in signing up their children for the next Paws & Pals can call the garrison’s main library at 486-7322 or 06371-86-7322.
