Maya Salerno entertains P.J. with the classic children's book "Madeline"

By Mary Walton, Literary Editor @Blogfinger

Ordinarily dogs are not permitted in the Neptune Township Library. But if you climb the stairs to the children’s department on a given Thursday evening, you’ll encounter the exception: a quartet of sweet-tempered, freshly shampooed canines in a most unlikely posture: listening to children read books.

Sue Feldman, a member of “Furry Angels,” a local association of therapy dogs and their handlers, organized the program in 2009 at the invitation of librarian Jackie Murphy, who had heard about it in other schools.

“I thought it would be a good thing,” said Murphy, who now works at the Tinton Falls Library. “A way to get children to read who normally don’t want to read. But they will read to dogs.” Today it is one of the library’s most popular programs, said library director Marian R. Bauman, attracting as many as 20 to 30 children. At times there has been a waiting list.

Nationally hundreds of libraries have established such programs. A study last year by researchers at the University of California, Davis, found that young students who read aloud to dogs improved their reading skills by 12 percent over the course of a 10-week program, while children in the same program who didn’t read to dogs showed no improvement.

Lori Celiberti of Shark River Hills was just four when she started coming two years ago. “She’s always liked dogs,” said her mother, Siella Celiberti. “That was the easy part.” Reading, not so much. Like many children, Lori started out looking at the pictures in books and telling stories about them. But a few days ago, with Feldman’s goldendoodle, Moses, at her side, she steamed through a book about ducks. Moses, like the others that evening, was adorned in holiday apparel. Occasionally the little girl reached out to pet him.

“You’re doing really well,” Feldman said.

“I get better and better all the time,” Lori said.

In another area, Brenda Olea, 7, read Coral Reef Animals to “P.J.,” a mixed breed husky and border collie with some basset hound and beagle thrown in. Brenda reads in both English and Spanish. Waiting its turn at her side was the El Major Futbolista. (The versatile P.J. listens in both English and Spanish!)

“I like it because I can read to them and speak to them,” Brenda said. “I like all animals.”

The children changed dogs after 15 minutes. P.J.’s next reader was Maya Salerno, 10, of Ocean Grove, armed with the children’s classic, Madeline. “The dog will say that you got the word wrong if you mess up,” Maya said with a sly smile.

Elsewhere Steven Hamilton listened to his grandson Xavier, 9, read Get Red, about a talking red crayon, to Kerri, a Welsh springer spaniel. They came for the first time two months ago. “I thought it was a good idea to spend time with my grandson and get him into reading,” Hamilton said. “I like to read myself.”

“Reading is essential,” chimed in Kerri’s owner, J.J. O’Connell of Avon. “All the ways kids are enticed by instant gratification, here they’re involved in something that requires some concentration and effort and at the same time teaches a lifelong skill.”

As for Kerri, he said, “She loves to come because she sees her friends — the other dogs.”

As therapy dogs, Kerri and her canine buddies often volunteer at nursing homes and hospitals. All have been trained and then tested for their ability to remain calm when challenged. When Moses was tested, Sue Feldman said, the examiner poked him with a cane and threw a walker in front of him. A dog might be confronted with dropped food and told to “Leave it.” Or the examiner might rattle a coffee can of coins in his face. Moses, she said, “was a natural.”

Even so, when the dogs are with children, as handlers “you want to make sure that you’re watching.”

Xavier Hamilton (above) reading to Kerri and handler J.J. O’Connell

“

Lori Celiberti reads about ducks to Moses, handler Sue Feldman and Lori's mom Siella (far right). All photos by Mary Walton