Stockbridge — On a cold January afternoon, six-year-old Evie Plehn sits snuggled on a floor pillow in a back nook of the Stockbridge Public Library as she reads a hardcover book very softly. Her listener? Brody, a black Labrador retriever, who is just a year younger than the first grader he is cuddling.
The two are taking part in a program offered by Stockbridge Public Library Youth Librarian Rachel Nicholson, “Read to Brody,” that takes place every Wednesday, from 3:45 to 4:45 p.m., and is open to local children who sign up for 15-minute time slots to read aloud to Brody.
“It’s just so wonderful to see the confidence that kids get,” Nicholson said of the program. “Sometimes, at first, they may be a little nervous, a little unsure, but by the end of the 15 minutes, you can see their comfort as they relax.”
The program encourages the child to participate in a nonjudgmental activity as a dog isn’t capable of negative statements should the reader stumble over a sentence or mispronounce a word, she said. “I think that gives the kids the freedom to just read and tell a story and not have to worry about being corrected,” Nicholson said.

Brody has his own insurance and is safe around children, she said. The program had a soft launch last summer and is appropriate for kids who are at an age to read independently. “Not any dog can do this,” Nicholson said. “Brody is very calm; he’s very relaxed. He listens and looks right at the kids. Some dogs might be a little too high energy, but Brody has got a great temperament for it.”
The program evolved through Brody’s owner, Chris Ferrero, a Stockbridge resident and frequent patron of the library who approached Nicholson with the idea, citing her success with her former dog, Brendan, in a similar program in East Fishkill, N.Y. However, that was just the beginning as Brody and Ferrero had to navigate many more steps to get to where the reading project is today, including team training and a therapy-dog certification from Canine Link in Sheffield. “These dogs are bred to serve,” Ferrero said.
Brody came to Ferrero from New York-based Guiding Eyes for the Blind, a nonprofit organization that provides guide dogs to individuals with vision loss. As with her last service dog, Brody was considered “a release” because he didn’t pass his eight-week-old test in the guide-dog program. In his case, the test required Brody to react quickly, and his responses just weren’t speedy enough for that task. “I was lucky enough as a volunteer to be able to adopt him,” Ferrero said. But, when he reached four years old, “it was apparent he needed a job,” she said.
Through Canine Link, Brody was assessed for traits required of service dogs such as possessing good manners, displaying good citizenship, and behaving in varied situations including nursing homes and domestic abuse shelters.

“But the library [dog] is a whole different thing,” Ferrero said. “People think that they can just take a well-mannered, affable dog into a library and have children read to him. I have learned you can do so much more with a library reading dog other than just listening. It has to do with focused attention on a child who doesn’t have the confidence yet to know that they are going to be a good reader.”
Sometimes Brody gets a little distracted by activity taking place near the library’s designated area for the program, an issue Ferrero solved when she purchased the facility’s floor pillow sofa for the comfy private space that signals to her dog that it is time to go to work.

“It gives particularly shy [children] and children who lack confidence a chance to have a quiet space and a rewarding experience with a nonjudgmental listener,” Ferrero said. “I’ve seen kids just frozen, frozen; they can’t get the first word out of their mouth, they’re staring at the book. And the dog is sitting there waiting.”
That is the time she covers Brody’s ears with her hands and lets the child in on a little “secret.” “Brody can’t read… he wants to hear your voice, so it doesn’t matter what’s on the page, just tell the story,” Ferrero said recalling what she tells the child who is afraid.
Those few words are sometimes all it takes for the little one to relax and discover the joy of reading, she said. “They go from frozen to release,” Ferrero said of the child, adding that the transition may take multiple sessions.
Recently, she observed one child who was a proficient reader but did so stiffly, without ease during their sessions with Brody. However, once the child began to pet Brody, “the tone of his voice changed,” and the young reader began enjoying the activity, Ferrero said.
“We always love to come here on Wednesdays to see Brody,” said Mia Plehn, Evie’s mother, as Evie hands Brody a treat. “She is very shy and quiet, and she feels completely comfortable reading to Brody in a way she isn’t comfortable reading to people.”
The session ends when Brody shares his new trick: putting his snout through a heart shape made by Evie’s hands.

For Nicholson, the experience “is heartwarming,” and parents are proud to boast of the growth their children are experiencing from the project. “It’s visible, the changes, and the impact [the program] is having,” Nicholson said.
To sign up for Read to Brody, email Nicholson at rnicholson@cwmars.org or call the library at (413) 298-5501.