Berks County readers have met the challenge to help a shelter pet find a forever home simply by reading books.
For the fourth year in a row, Reading District Libraries has sponsored the Pages for Pets initiative. The program sponsors the adoption fee of a shelter pet by encouraging people of all ages to read.
Readers from across the county had until July 24 to successfully read a combined total of 500,000 minutes. Every minute counted toward the financial sponsorship of an adoption at Humane Pennsylvania.
That goal was reached.
Marissa Guidara, Reading District Libraries’ youth services consultant, announced Tuesday that a 1-year-old corgi named Barkley is the recipient of the Pages for Pets adoption sponsorship. After being found as a stray and cared for by Humane Pennsylvania, Guidara said Barkley has now been adopted into a home where he has a new four-legged sibling.
“We’re so excited that Barkley has found the perfect family,” she said. “Pages for Pets is about more than encouraging reading — its about showing that when a community works together, even small actions can make a meaningful difference. Every minute our readers logged helped give Barkley the happy ending he deserved.”
Since launching in 2023, Guidara said Pages for Pets has inspired readers across Berks to log more than 2.2 million minutes while sponsoring the adoptions of Agent 007, Egypt, Weebles and now Barkley.
“Each pet has gone on to find a loving forever home, demonstrating the lasting impact of the community’s commitment to reading and animal welfare,” she said.