PAWS for Reading at Tulsa City-County Library
Since I started working for TulsaKids in 2016, I’ve become pretty familiar with Tulsa City-County Library’s programming. From weekly storytimes to LEGO sessions, tween book clubs, adult crafting nights and much more. One program I’ve been eager to have Joss participate in is PAWS for Reading. And we finally got our chance!
Paws for Reading is a chance for kids ages 5-12 to read to a registered therapy dog. Several library branches have a monthly PAWS for Reading session, usually just once per month. You do have to pre-register. Joss turned five in 2020, so you can imagine why our initial foray into PAWS for Reading was delayed a couple years! But I finally got him signed up for the most recent event at Central Library, and it was fantastic!
What to Expect
This may vary by library branch, but here’s how our session at Central went. We pre-registered at events.tulsalibrary.org/events, receiving a confirmation email immediately. A few days before the event, we received an email with instructions.
Altogether, the PAWS for Reading event is an hour, and each kid has ten minutes to read. So spots fill up quickly! We showed up at the library, and the children’s librarian told us approximately where we were on the list. So we just browsed books and stayed close by until they called us.
Once it was our turn, we walked into the reading room and met Tuffie, a very calm, very sweet – very LARGE – dog. She was sitting there with her human, who is also a librarian. They had several short books for Joss to choose from, although kids also have the option of bringing in whatever they want to read. Joss chose a Fly Guy book.
He sat down next to Tuffie and did a great job of reading all the way through! Afterwards, we were able to give her some pets. Plus, Joss got to pick out a book to take home and keep, something every participant gets to do.
Parents and caretakers can stay in the room with their child, and are allowed to take pictures as well, as long as they don’t get distracting. 🙂
Picking out a book to take home!
Looking for a PAWS for Reading Event?
Go to tulsalibrary.org/mylibrary to find the latest TCCL Event Guide. Here, you’ll find a list of upcoming events, including PAWS for Reading. Once you’ve found the date you’re looking for, go to events.tulsalibrary.org/events to register.
