One of our featured presentations at this year’s Library Technicians and Assistants Interest Group (LTAIG) annual one-day conference is “Paws for Stories”with Cindy Foote and Roberta Hewitt. Roberta is the Director of Marketing and Community Relations with St. John Ambulance and as part of this role, she oversees the Therapy Dog Program, which has recently partnered with two branches of Newfoundland and Labrador Public Libraries to bring the Paws 4 Stories program to our province. Cindy Foote is a Library Technician II/ED ILL Manager with Mount Pearl Public Library.
The Paws 4 Stories program provides children the opportunity to practice their reading skills aloud to a SJA certified Therapy Dog. Research has shown that children who read to Therapy Dogs show improvement in their reading skills, as they feel more comfortable practicing around a loving, non-judgmental animal. Roberta will speak to the volunteer requirements to participate in Paws 4 Stories and the success of the pilot programs.
Join us on on Monday, November 20, to meet Spock and some of the other, equally adorable, St. John Ambulance therapy dogs! There’s still time to register online for this great one-day conference which is free to current NLLA members.