CLEVELAND — Making reading fun has been a long-standing goal for educators across the country. 

What You Need To Know

  • A library media specialist at Cleveland Metropolitan School District has found a way to make reading fun for early learners
  • She started a program called reading buddies that allows students to “adopt” a stuffed animal and read to them

  • Students said this has increased their interest in reading

Anne Marie Brown, a library media specialist in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD), believes she might have cracked the code, by using stuffed animals as “reading buddies” for early learners.

Brown started the program four years ago and collected about 600 stuffed animals through donations and her own personal collection to distribute to students from pre-k to third grade.

“They choose their animal. They promise to read to it, and we follow up with that on a weekly basis,” Brown said.

She said the goal of this program is to increase literacy rates among the students.

According to Ohio School Report Cards, CMSD needs significant support to meet state standards in early literacy. Less than 33% of third graders in the district scored proficient on the reading segment of the state English language arts test.

“Just seeing them on a regular basis and listening to them, it definitely improves their fluency,” Brown said. “It helps when teachers have reading skills that they are doing in the classroom, and we support it here in the library as well.” 

On Wednesdays, a therapy dog named Mabel comes in to provide some encouragement for the students while they read. 

Student Angela Mejia Carrasco said overall, this program has made her enjoy reading more. 

“It makes me get more opportunities to read more in school and at home,” she said. “It helps me read more by myself and with people around me.”  

Brown added that this program also strengthens students' social and emotional skills.

“Students can just feel relaxed, and just build their confidence reading to and petting a dog if they are having some hard times in life,” she said.