Tess Schneider, teacher of 33 years turned dog handler, and her golden retriever, Trace, were featured. Schneider has witnessed the impact that a dog can have, from libraries and schools to nursing homes and hospitals.

“People know my dogs' names more than they know mine,” she said with a smile.

Every therapy dog is unique. Trace, for example, has only three legs. On visiting those with mental or physical differences, Schneider said, “Trace just makes them shine.”

She recalled a time when Trace visited a young girl who had not spoken in months. On his first visit, she said his name.

“The whole faculty stopped what they were doing. She had not talked for almost six months. She talked to Trace. And that’s how the response is…every time we go out with the community with children, especially with physical and mental disabilities, they connect with him immediately. It’s like a miracle.”

For Clay Humane, that's what it is all about — building connections through pet therapy and teaching children from an early age how to treat animals with care and consideration.

Jessilyn Whitehurst said her 8-year-old daughter loves dogs and has grown up going to the library. As a single mom, unique events like these and the library summer programs are a great way for her daughter to get excited about reading and have fun.

“The library has so many options…. it’s kind of amazing, all the stuff.”

Although it was her daughter’s first time attending Reading with Rover, she eagerly jumped in with a book to read to Trace and the other children.

Reading with Rover was introduced at the Fleming Island Library in 2022. Since then, over 1,300 people have read with a dog. 

Director of Library Services Mary Canfield has seen the therapy dogs at work firsthand in multiple branches of the Clay County Public Library System. 

“It breaks down barriers for them so they can come in, and they feel comfortable, and they just pet the dog, and they talk to the dog, and the next thing you know someone’s reading to the dog….it breaks down barriers, and it lets them know they’re in a safe space. And so, then you make reading a safe thing, as well, which is so important.”

The library's mission is to “inform, connect and inspire,” and the partnership certainly does that. By focusing on reading out loud and connecting words to sounds, Reading with Rover supports the library’s goals of promoting early literacy and bringing the community together.

The Fleming Island, Middleburg-Clay Hill and Orange Park library branches will host Reading with Rover on a monthly basis, starting in August. 

  Fleming Island's will be the second and fourth Tuesdays at 4 p.m.; Middleburg-Clay Hill's will be the second Thursdays at 4 p.m.; and Orange Park's will be the first Thursdays and third Wednesdays at 4 p.m.

For the full library calendar, visit claycountygov.libcal.com/calendar/LibraryCalendar. 

In the words of Lori Coleman, head of Clay Humane’s Teal Paws Pet-Assisted Therapy Teams: “A therapy dog doesn't teach a child how to read. They help a child believe they can."

With each appearance, these therapy dogs show young readers and the entire Clay County community that anything is "paw"ssible — all you have to do is try.