Paws for storytime: Confederation Centre Library, Humane Society team up to teach kids about animals in need

During these dog days of summer, the Confederation Centre Library is a cool place to be  — especially when a little pup from the PEI Humane Society shows up for storytime.

The Confederation Centre Library's summer reading program is all about encouraging kids to read and connecting them to their community.

Throughout the summer, the library invites special guests to visit the children's library to talk about what they do and to read a story that showcases their career.

The latest guest was Alex Johnson from the PEI Humane Society, who came in to talk to the kids about caring for animals in need.

Johnson is an animal welfare education intern and his job is to teach people about the work the Humane Society does.

"We're just trying to get them information and love for animals as early as possible. The more people that grow up with that knowledge, I think it will help the shelter out and reduce the numbers."

'Happy kids with happy animals'

Johnson brought his own dog, a gentle eight-year-old Shih Tzu named Kaylee, to meet the children. As Kaylee cuddled with the kids, Johnson read a book called Can I Be Your Dog?, a story about a dog who was trying to find his forever home.

The kids listened to the story as Kaylee curled up at their feet.

"She's giving lots of kisses and hopefully it translates into adoptions and happy kids with happy animals," he said.

For eight-year-old Robert Hayhurst, a tourist visiting from the United Kingdom, dropping into the library for a story and a snuggle from a cute pup was a huge hit.

"She's definitely licking me a lot. It feels kind of nice, I love it," Robert giggled.

"She is very, very, very, very, very, very cute! I think she was kissing me because she likes me."

Community perspectives

Robert's sister, 10-year-old Heather Hayhurst, loved meeting Kaylee and appreciated learning about the how the Humane Society cares for animals in need.

"She was really cute and it was interesting to find out a few facts about the PEI Humane Society," she said. 

"I think it's a good idea to teach children about that because some children think that it's alright to pull their hair and mess with them."

Mother Candace Gosson loves bringing her own children and the kids she cares for in her home daycare to the Confederation Centre Library.

"I love that the library here puts on all these programs," Gosson said. 

"We try to come down to as many as we can and they reach out to the community quite a lot and bring in quite a few different groups and it's great that the Humane Society is part of that," she said.

Importance of appreciation

Gosson said her family are big supporters of the PEI Humane Society and have adopted several pets from there, including a bunny named Baxter who they adopted in June.

"I think it's an important thing for children to appreciate animals and just the companionship that they can give us and it's important that we look out for them as well, especially when they don't have homes or are in need of something," she said.

Emily McClean is the Summer Reading Club coordinator at the Confederation Centre Library. She has been delighted to see kids connect with the special guest visitors all summer long.

"This job has been an amazing dream job," she said.

"Just having the opportunity to be able to engage with children and help expand their love of reading and introduce them to new things and understand that reading doesn't have to be a chore it can be something that's really exciting and a way to share your interests with the people that you love."

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