![\"Jason](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/36d0c4fb-c5fc-4385-abfc-a6a010994686_1663882065.file.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nOn a Thursday afternoon, the Carmichael Library is offering a unique way for kids to stay engaged during summer break by pairing them with dogs to improve their reading skills. <\/p>\n
“You get your summer reading medal,” a librarian said, as moms like Amy Becker bring their children to the library for educational activities. <\/p>\n
“It’s just the perfect cool afternoon activity in Sacramento,” Becker said. <\/p>\n
Reading often takes a backseat during summer vacation, but Librarian Kathy Chain is working to change that. <\/p>\n
The library offers several summer programs to encourage reading, with the summer reading challenge being the most popular.<\/p>\n
“Every child can learn to read,” Chain said. “Probably our biggest program is our summer reading challenge.”<\/p>\n
One program, however, has become a standout favorite. <\/p>\n
The “Read to a Dog” program<\/a>, which began nearly two decades ago, allows children to read aloud to therapy dogs in a relaxed and supportive environment. <\/p>\n “My wife walked in [to the library] one day and said she was looking at a magazine. [Someone] said they were going to take their dogs into a library and have their kids read to dogs,” said 88-year-old Arnie Wildfeuer, who participates in the program with his 13-year-old dog, Nixie. <\/p>\n “This hour that I have this week is the best hour of the week for me,” Wildfeuer said. <\/p>\n The program is designed to help children struggling with reading gain confidence and improve their skills in a nonjudgmental setting. <\/p>\n “The dog isn’t judging you. They aren’t looking at you like, ‘This one again,'” Chain said. <\/p>\n “Dogs don’t know if you read the wrong words. He’s sometimes worried when he makes mistakes, and the dog doesn’t know that,” said a parent. <\/p>\n Experts say the program is effective. A UC Davis study from a few years ago found that reading to dogs can improve children’s reading fluency by 30%. <\/p>\n “It’s awesome. What do you guys think about it? It’s kind of fun reading to dogs,” said one participant. <\/p>\n For one hour every week, the library becomes a hub of furry friends and eager readers. <\/p>\n “The cuteness aside, we are developing that reader confidence. They know they can do this,” Chain said.<\/p>\n See more coverage of top California stories here<\/a> | Download our app<\/a> | Subscribe to our morning newsletter<\/a> | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel<\/a> | Make KCRA a preferred news source in Google<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sacramento library program helps kids improve reading skills with dogs On a Thursday afternoon, the Carmichael Library is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":410466,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[2305,2116,34736,13889,121,123,122],"class_list":["post-410465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-children","tag-dogs","tag-literacy","tag-reading","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/410466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}