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<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\nThe Hays Public Library first hosted the event, called Foster a Book, Adopt an Animal, last year to promote animal adoption and community literacy, including excitement for reading. According to Ray, the event was a success.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HPL library staff arrived at the Humane Society with baskets of children\u2019s books and bottles of water for this year\u2019s participants. Children and their families lined the halls of the shelter, waiting to pull up chairs in front of kennels of excited dogs or in the shelter\u2019s kitten room, so they could read their favorite books.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Ray, the importance of library partnership extends beyond promoting literacy. Foster a Book, Adopt an Animal serves as an example of how the HPL exists for the community and its organizations.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are everyone\u2019s library. We are Hays\u2019s library, and that means that we have an obligation to bring everything that we offer at the library and increase access to our services throughout the community, and the best way to do that is to partner with all of the amazing community operations and institutions that we have in town, such as the Humane Society,\u201d Ray said.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Jessica Albin, a mom who brought her two boys to the Humane Society Saturday, reading to the animals serves another purpose. She sees it as a way for her children to learn to give back to their community.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI just like giving my kids the opportunity to serve and just the opportunity to give of themselves and of their time, and they really like animals and reading so it just seemed like a good fit,\u201d Albin said.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Ray, she hopes the biggest take away for each family is an animal, that it would inspire families to adopt. Like Albin, however, she believes there is a broader lesson for children to learn in reading to animals. Reading is enjoyable in any capacity and in circumstance.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou can enjoy reading in a lot of other different environments and it can benefit all of the friends and community members that you might meet, including animals,\u201d Ray said.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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