Avera NICU Read-A-Thon sends every baby home with a book

This piece is sponsored by Avera.

Whether it’s Seuss or Sendak, Brown Bear or Little Hare, reading aloud to babies offers proven benefits.

Neonatal intensive care unit nurses at Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center recently celebrated their second annual Babies With Books Read-A-Thon. The international event held every September encourages nurses and families to read aloud to NICU babies.

Highlights from second year

Avera’s second year participating in the Read-A-Thon saw exciting growth with the creation of an Amazon wish list, which allowed anyone to donate books to parents and babies in the NICU.

The book drive helped staff surpass their goal of 500 books, ensuring that every baby born during the drive went home with a new book.

“We’ve gotten 547 books and counting,” said Jessica Bollock, registered nurse and nurse supervisor at Avera McKennan’s NICU. “We’re going to have to hand out more books because we’re running out of space. It’s a great problem to have.”

Nurses and families were joined by some familiar faces as community leaders shared in the fun. “KELOLAND Living” host Mitchell Olson read to baby Cameron, who started story time with a sleepy yawn but was wide-eyed by the end of the book.

Mitchell Olson reads to baby Cameron in the NICU.

Olson’s rhyming farmyard story “Little Blue Truck” was a popular pick for NICU families because of its playful animal and truck sounds.

“The Wonky Donkey,” “Grumpy Monkey” and Nancy Tillman’s books also were big hits, Bollock said.

Reading aloud boosts connection, development 

The event is more than a way to foster families’ involvement in their babies’ care and combat the stress of hospitalization. Reading with babies positively impacts infants’ mental, physical and social development.

“We’re doing this event to help promote positive bonding and neurodevelopment experience for the babies,” said Kerissa Gauer, a registered nurse.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, reading aloud to babies promotes early learning skills, improving literacy and language development by activating infants’ brains with images, sounds and loved ones’ voices.

Reading aloud also fosters bonds between babies and their parents, forming positive connections and reducing stress for patients and families.

The benefits start even before birth as reading to babies in utero can help promote bonding and early literacy skills, laying the foundation for language and relationship development, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Nurses, families, community join forces

The event created a friendly competition among Avera McKennan NICU nursing staff as nurses challenged each other to see who could read the most books with their tiny patients.

Parents and family members got their choice of donated new books to read. Watching them share special moments of bonding with their babies was the highlight of the event for Bollock.

The department collected receipts from the donated books to display in the hallway to showcase the names of donors and share their messages of encouragement.

Book donors included many Avera NICU graduates — families who previously had babies in the NICU and were eager to support those currently receiving care.

Cameron’s parents, Shania and Dustin, have started to build a library of books for Cameron, and thanks to the Read-A-Thon, there will be one or two special additions to that collection.

Read more stories about Avera at Avera.org/Balance.