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Photos by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
John Thomas Skinner, 10, reads a book to Sissie, an adopted dog from the Greater Birmingham Humane Society, during the Barks and Books event at the Homewood Public Library on Jan. 10.
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Photos by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Harper King, 8, reads a book with her mom, Jen, and a puppy named Ziggy at Barks and Books.
There have been lots of tails wagging lately at the Homewood Public Library’s Barks and Books event.
From 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. each Wednesday, the library’s children’s department hosts a time for children to come and read or spend time with dogs brought in by volunteers with the Greater Birmingham Humane Society.
“The dogs come sit, and they are wonderful listeners for our kiddos to practice their reading or to just hang out with them if they would like,” children’s librarian Gabby Bass-Butler said. “I think it helps for the kids being able to read to the dogs because for some kids, they may feel shy reading in front of others or may be a struggling reader. Reading to a dog allows them to come to a judgment-free zone and safe space to practice their reading or share the books they love with dogs who are essentially going to just sit there and listen.”
The dogs in the Barks and Books program are considered “ambassador dogs,” who already have homes and live with the volunteers who bring them to the event. The ambassador dogs help to spread the word about the Greater Birmingham Humane Society’s work.
At Barks and Books, roughly five to seven dogs and a few volunteers come to participate each week, Bass-Butler said.
“I sit outside our round auditorium with a sign-up sheet and kids come sign up, and while they wait for their turn, they can go pick out their books they want to read, or do our scavenger hunt,” she said.
When it’s their turn, each kid is given a timer and can go into the round auditorium to read or hang out with the dogs until the timer runs out, Bass-Butler said.
“Depending on how many people we have, we try to do 15 [to] 20-minute slots, but if we have a larger crowd, I may do 10 minutes to ensure everyone gets a turn,” she said.
Barks and Books has been happening since 2017, after the library did tutoring at Homewood Middle School and wanted to expand its tutoring to include reading to animals.
The library had previously done adoption events with GBHS, so the idea to merge the combination of animals with young readers was born.
“It has been a huge hit and one of our more popular programs,” Bass-Butler said. “We have regulars that come in and know the dogs they visit, and it is their first stop after school. Also, I love how communal it is because one family will come regularly, then tell a friend and bring them along too. So, it is great for spreading the word. Also, we take breaks during holidays and summer, and you can tell the kids miss not having the dogs, so you can see it is a regular rhythm of a lot of people’s lives.”
In November 2023, Barks and Books was paired with a book signing by local children’s book author Dorenda Doyle, who was promoting her book, “The Dog and The Kid.”
“This made a perfect book signing for our Barks and Books program,” Bass-Butler said. “We had her books available for kids to use during their session with the dogs, and we had never had an author come before so that was fun.”
Bass-Butler said another highlight of the program was having a couple of local Girl Scout troops come for a library tour, and part of the tour included participating in the Barks and Books program.
“We have received great feedback on the program, and we cater to the large number of readers we have come in each week,” she said. “I love seeing the regulars that come in every Wednesday after school, and you get to see them grow as readers over time, but also how they bond with their volunteers and the dogs. We have one kid that comes in every week with a ‘book bag’ that he hopes to get through during his session. It is the sweetest thing.”
As for the dogs, Bass-Butler said interacting with the kids helps calm them and they seem to love the program.
“Although this is almost a job for them, they seem to really love the interaction,” she said.
For more information about the program, call Bass-Butler at 205-332-6600 or visit homewoodpubliclibrary.org.
