The quietness of the Northridge Library on June 13 erupted in the community meeting room as children arrived for a monthly reading-to-a-dog program.
Charlie, a labradoodle; Vida, a border collie-Golden Retriever; and Tedi Bear, a Maltese poodle took their positions on blankets as the children approached with their book of interest. Sometimes, kids find it intimidating to read in front of others, but they love to read to the non-judgmental, calming dogs.
“The words in the book were kind of large, but I knew all of the words,” said Moon Wright, a 7-year-old from Northridge who read “Biscuit Loves Libraries” to Tedi Bear, a 12-year-old male Maltese poodle who listened inventively.
Vicky Brabant, a Northridge resident and Charlie’s owner, said she and he have been a part of BARK for the past 11 years and started when he was one. “I was looking for something to do with my time once I retired and to give back,” said Brabant. “It’s the joy of children reading and to get to help the ones having a bit of difficulty.”
The library program operates in conjunction with BARK Dog Therapy, a nonprofit that pairs primarily elementary-aged children with certified therapy dogs to improve reading skills and build confidence. BARK Dog Therapy’s teams go to schools and libraries in the San Fernando Valley to South Orange County.
At Northridge Library, BARK is held on the second Saturday of each month on a drop-in basis. The program primarily consists of four dogs and about 20 students for one hour. Age-appropriate books are chosen by the staff to encourage a child’s success.
“The kids really enjoy getting to read through all of the dogs … I think they enjoyed having each other and not being the only one,” said Heidi Mark, a children’s librarian at Los Angeles Public Library’s Northridge branch.
While BARK focuses on elementary-aged children, middle schoolers also participate. “So, the fact that it’s a mixed age is nice,” Mark said. “It takes the pressure off. The kids love coming. We have them in a calming spot.”
When reading to themselves, children skip the words they do not know. But reading out loud, it’s necessary to speak each word. Reading to a friendly, nonjudgmental dog takes away the anxiety and can make reading fun.
Studies from UC Davis and Tufts University show that children reading to dogs increase their words per minute and increase their reading comprehension.
B.A.R.K. (Beach Animals Reading with Kids) is a Southern California non-profit that pairs children with certified therapy dogs to help improve reading skills and build confidence.
When BARK’s founder, Josie Gaviers, visited elementary schools in 2007, her goal was to come up with a mnemonic name for her non-profit. “Because I live in Long Beach and never imagined we would get this big, I used beach animals meaning Long Beach,” Gaviers said. “We basically now just go by BARK Therapy Dogs.”
It now has teams in more than 60 schools and libraries. BARK teams also visit nursing homes, senior living facilities, hospices, veteran centers and college students during finals week.
Before COVID there were 140 teams in place from the San Fernando Valley to South Orange County. Today there are 85 teams including just about every breed from Chihuahuas to pit bulls to Newfoundlands.
“We treat each (dog) equally without prejudice for breed,” Gaviers said. “We have even had Rottweilers and Dobermans in the past. I would say (the more prominent breeds) are Golden Retrievers and Labradors.
Gaviers’ journey the past 18 years started with a Long Beach elementary school and two friends of a friend.
“The school chose four students who were shy, reluctant, had given up,” Gaviers said. “They read with us 15 minutes once a week for eight weeks. The key was we didn’t tell them it was a reading program … we told them they are junior trainers and they’re help training the dogs so the dog can go to the hospitals and libraries. It motivates them to read so that they don’t feel like they stick out. It changes from ‘I’m stupid’ to ‘I get to help training the dog’.”
Gaviers said some children won’t read out loud to their parents who unlike dogs don’t judge them but simply patiently sit there. “If you read to yourself you skip the words you don’t know but if you’re reading out loud to somebody else, even an animal, you have to stop and have somebody help you with the words you don’t know so the dog ‘understands’ the story,” she said.
Volunteers are asked for one hour a month at a location near where they live.
Visit barkreadingdogs@aol.com for more information about BARK at other Los Angeles Public libraries and elsewhere in the Southland such as Santa Monica, Torrance, Tustin, Santa Ana and Long Beach. The Northridge branch library will be closed between June 15 to July 16 due to facility maintenance.