My Nonprofit Reviews

Paws and Think has been a valuable partner of the Westfield Washington Public Library for years, through the Paws to Read program. This popular program draws children of all ages -- primarily early readers who want to practice reading out loud to a friendly dog in a non-judging environment, but also to pre-readers who tell a story to the dog in their own words, and to more experienced readers who need to overcome a fear of dogs.

Paws to Read takes place throughout the year at our library, on a monthly basis -- twice monthly during our Summer Reading Program in June and July, when the demand is highest. We typically serve between 6 and 12 readers at each session.

My contact at Paws and Think (currently Shannon Gaughan-Kelly) has always been very responsive, and works hard to make sure we have enough volunteer teams to meet our needs. In these times, when reports show a significant decline in reading competencies in young children, it is more important than ever for libraries to offer programs such as Paws to Read, which both encourages a love of reading and helps to build solid skills.