This summer, Berks County readers are invited to help a shelter pet find a forever home just by reading. As part of the third annual Pages for Pets program, community members are being invited to read a total of 500,000 minutes from now through Friday, July 25. If the challenge is met, Reading District Libraries will fully sponsor the adoption of one animal at the Animal Rescue League of Berks County (ARL) that is seeking a forever home.

Participants may read whatever they choose, including novels, e-books, audiobooks, newspapers or comics and graphic novels, and then log their reading minutes. Every minute contributes to reaching the 500,000-minute goal that will fund the adoption fee of a shelter pet.

"The Reading District Libraries are using funding from our budget to sponsor the program," explained Marissa Guidara, youth services district consultant for Reading District Libraries. She noted that the program's progress can be found at each participating library, which includes the Village Library of Morgantown and the Boone Area Library in Birdsboro, and at http://www.berkslibraries.org.

"At each library location, they have a poster where they are filling in the minutes each week to show how far we've gotten. It will also be on the Berks County Libraries' website," Guidara noted. "There is an online form on the website where people can submit how much they read, and that will be updated every Monday around midday."

Guidara said that ARL will choose the lucky pet whose adoption fee will be sponsored. For the first year of the program, Agent 007, a senior black cat, had his adoption fee sponsored and was adopted soon after. Last summer, Berks County readers successfully met the goal, and the ARL announced that Egypt, a 1-year-old pit bull, was the sponsored pet. She was adopted into her forever home shortly thereafter. 

"For Agent 007, they had specifically talked about that fact that he was a senior cat, which is a tough sell, and he was also difficult to adopt out because he is a black cat, and people have superstitions about that," said Guidara. "Last year, they chose Egypt. We are happy with whoever they choose; we are happy to support them."

Guidara emphasized that the reading challenge is open to people of all ages. "Originally, the main target audience was kids and teens, but a lot of adults also wanted to participate, including a lot of older adults," she noted. "It was an easy way for them to give back. Maybe they can't financially support ARL, or they don't have the ability to volunteer there, so this was a way they could do their part. Kids (can also) learn what they can accomplish when people work together."

The ARL will announce which pet's adoption was made possible by the community's efforts on Monday, July 28.

"Pages for Pets combines two things our community loves: reading and helping animals," said Guidara. "It's heartwarming to see people of all ages come together to make a real difference, one page at a time."

Pages for Pets is designed to coincide with the Summer Reading Programs being offered at Berks County libraries. Libraries have a full schedule of activities for children, teens and adults, as well as reading incentive programs. To learn more about the activities at the Village Library of Morgantown and the Boone Area Library, visit http://www.facebook.com/VillageLibraryofMorgantown and http://www.facebook.com/boonearealibrary, respectively.

For more information about Pages for Pets and to log reading times, visit www.berkslibraries.org/kids/p4p. 

More information about adoptable pets at the ARL, located at 58 Kennel Road, Birdsboro, is available at http://www.berksarl.org.