On the Wednesday morning before Halloween, the Oakland Park Library at City Centennial Park will fill with small superheroes, pint-sized pumpkins and at least a few dogs in costumes. The city's Leashes and Literacy Not-So-Scary Halloween runs from 10 to 11 a.m. on October 28, 2026, at 3900 NE 3rd Avenue, and it is built around a simple, slightly unusual idea: a Halloween storytime where the reading buddies happen to have tails.
The program, as the city describes it, pairs a Halloween storytime reading with a costume parade and treats, then turns the room over to the library's therapy dogs, who arrive in their own Halloween costumes for pictures with the children. It is aimed squarely at young children and their families, and the city bills it as "a fun, friendly, and not-so-scary Halloween celebration" — a deliberate alternative to the haunted-house end of the holiday spectrum.
The setting matters almost as much as the dogs. The library sits inside City Centennial Park, a 3900 NE 3rd Avenue property. The park holds five pickleball courts, two basketball courts, an accessible playground with a shade cover, family restrooms, a renovated concession stand and the first splash pad in the city. According to the city, it was the first project completed under Oakland Park's Building Our Second Century bond program, which voters approved with 67 percent support in 2018. The design choices made there — the architectural style of the structures, the benches and lights, the coordinated colors of the amenities — were intended as a template, with similar elements carried into later city projects to give Oakland Park a consistent look.
The library itself is a recent arrival at the park. The city's calendar for the library includes low-barrier, drop-in offerings of exactly the kind the Halloween storytime belongs to.
The Leashes and Literacy name points at the reading-to-dogs model that has spread through American libraries over the past couple of decades, in which trained therapy animals sit with children who may be hesitant about reading aloud. The premise is that a dog is an uncritical listener — it does not correct pronunciation or sigh at a stumble — and the format has become a staple of youth services. Oakland Park's twist is seasonal: the same calm, non-judgmental audience, plus costumes and a photo line.
That combination is what makes the event worth a calendar note. South Florida's October is thick with trunk-or-treats, pumpkin patches and haunted trails, most of them loud, dark or candy-maximalist. This one is an hour long, indoors, free and walk-in, and pitched at the youngest end of the trick-or-treating demographic — the age group that tends to find fake cobwebs more upsetting than fun. The costume parade gives kids a reason to wear the outfit twice, and the treats mean nobody leaves empty-handed.
For parents, the practical appeal is the same as the emotional one. A therapy dog in a Halloween bandana is a reliably good photo, and the event is explicitly designed to produce one: the city's listing invites families to "take a special picture" with the dogs. The library's location inside City Centennial Park also means the outing can stretch past the storytime hour — the playground and splash pad are steps away, and the park's restrooms and shade cover make an extended morning feasible with small children in tow.
Details are straightforward. The event is scheduled for Wednesday, October 28, 2026, from 10 to 11 a.m. at Oakland Park Library at City Centennial Park, 3900 NE 3rd Avenue, Oakland Park, FL 33334. Costumes are encouraged for children and, evidently, for dogs. The city's calendar listing does not mention registration, consistent with the library's other drop-in youth programs. Families planning to attend should check the city calendar at oaklandparkfl.gov for any updates, since library schedules can shift.
What the morning amounts to is a small, gentle piece of civic programming: a new library in a rebuilt park, a pack of costumed therapy dogs, and an hour set aside for children who would rather meet Halloween with a story and a wagging tail than a jump scare.