The FURever as Friends reading program at the Mullica Hill library – where kids read aloud to cats and dogs – will return beginning Thursday from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
The program takes place on two Thursdays a month and is a partnership between the library and the FURever as Friends organization. The latter also sponsors Silent Mentors in Literacy Education (SMILE), which enables kids in the region to practice their own reading skills to a non-judgmental audience.
“The owners, Sharon and John Bednar, created this organization in 2013,” said the library’s head of youth services, Stephanie Smith, of FURever as Friends. “They were volunteering with another organization that came to the library and decided they wanted to create their own organization. We immediately agreed to host reading programs with them.”
FURever as Friends has been held at other branches in the Gloucester County Library System (GCLS) since its founding. It’s also open to families with children who have not yet learned to read; they can make up a story to go along with the book they read to an animal or just show pictures.
According to Smith, the program has a number of benefits that can help not only participants, but their parents, too.”
“Children who are struggling readers or hesitant to read aloud feel more relaxed and less stressed when reading to an animal, because they can’t criticize, correct or judge the child,” she explained. “Not only do they enhance their reading skills, but they also gain the confidence needed to read aloud more or try more challenging books.
“Reading to a therapy animal also encourages patience and allows the child to read at his or her own pace, without feeling the pressure to read so many pages or read in a specific time frame,” Smith added. “Parents benefit … because children are willingly reading to therapy animals, where at home, it may be a struggle to read.”
FURever as Friends is free and doesn’t require a library card; registration is available at the GCLS website. Parents are required to accompany children and photographs can be taken.
“This is one of our favorite programs at the library,” Smith noted. “The organization’s founders are wonderful people who want to bring a smile to as many faces as possible. All of the teams are welcoming and patient. Even our staff get excited when it’s ‘FAF Night.’
“Everyone gets excited and happy, and anything that gets children excited about reading is absolutely worth it.”
