Gizmo the Therapy Dog will be the extra-special guest for story time on July 16, 2022 from 12-4 PM at the Little Free Library at Parks-Bentley Place at 53 Ferry Boulevard, South Glens Falls, NY 12803. Gizmo will read from his book Gizmo’s Pawesome Guide to Mental Health Guide at 12:30, 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 PM. Free books from the Little Free Library will be available, as well as a limited number of Gizmo’s guides. Tours of Parks-Bentley Place will also be available.

Gizmo is a 3.5 Miki dog who lives in Manchester, CT.  He is a K-9 First Responder and Therapy Dog who is the mascot for the Connecticut Suicide Prevention Campaign: 1 Word, 1 Voice, 1 Life…Be the One to Start the Conversation.

Gizmo’s Pawesome Guide to Mental Health Guide © takes an upstream approach to support the mental health and wellness of youth.  It is data-driven and evidence-informed. The Guide seeks to introduce mental health and wellness, and how to care for one’s mental health in a nonthreatening way that encourages the self-identification of warning signs and when to apply the use of internal and external healthy coping strategies to help reduce risk. It gives youth the opportunity to create a personal mental health plan (of action) that they can use daily, and in a time of need that can help them avert a crisis.

This story time event is part of a nationwide interactive Read-Along program based on the children’s book, Gizmo’s Pawesome Guide to Mental Health© in partnership with the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) and the United Way of CT/2-1-1 on behalf of the CT Suicide Advisory Board (CTSAB) to promote positive mental health habits and trusted-adult connections for elementary-aged children.

This event is co-sponsored by the Jane McCrea Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution which promotes the tenets of Education, Patriotism, and Historic Preservation. For the current administration’s initiative, “Shine a Light on Literacy”, Jane McCrea Chapter Regent, Tamaris Dolton, received the Little Free Library as a 75th birthday present from her eldest daughter, Emily Dolton. Emily painted the library to resemble Park-Bentley Place, where the Jane McCrea Chapter holds their meetings.

Parks-Bentley Place is the home of the Historical Society of Moreau and South Glens Falls and is stop #14 on the New York State Independence Trail. Tours of the house will be available from 1:00-3:00 PM during the event, and each Saturday through October.