The Tisbury School library celebrated School Library Media Month with a special reading incentive program called Worlds Connect @ Your Library. As well as reading literature set in varied locales, from Penda Diakite’s I Lost My Tooth in Africa, to Eric Carle’s saga of 10 Little Rubber Ducks, students have had the opportunity to read to a literacy dog.

School reading specialist Natalie Krauthamer, librarian Patricia Ryan, fourth grade teacher and dog owner Veronika Van de Geer, and Rusty, the Literacy Dog, report that students from kindergarten through grade four have been participating in this reading incentive since the beginning of March. Rusty, a reading therapy dog, has been trained to listen to children read. Ms. Van de Geer has been bringing Rusty to listen to the children since the beginning of the school year. Almost every week, a class has been coming to the library to read to Rusty. He listens attentively to groups of four or five children, and travels from one group to the next with ease. Ms. Van de Geer is with him at all times.

Students in kindergarten through grade four read every night to earn a weekly surprise. Two lucky students from each class received a gift certificate to a local bookstore to purchase a book of their choice.

All the participating classes had a popcorn party, too, and two lucky students from each grade level got to come to the library for a special party with Rusty.

Mrs. Baynes’ first grade class wrote to Ms. Van de Geer: “We are writing to thank you for letting us read to your dog. We liked Rusty’s tricks (high five!) and his waggy tail. He seemed to really enjoy our poems – almost as much as his carrot treats! It was fun to have a dog come to school.”

Worlds connect at the Tisbury School library, as children connected to the Reading Education Assistance Dogs program (R.E.A.D.), and connected to the world by reading a wide variety of books at home and at school.

— Patricia Ryan