At Sarasota Memorial Hospital’s NICU, the tiniest patients are learning about the magic of reading.  Every week, volunteers and team members from the First 1,000 Days Suncoast initiative arrive with bundles of brightly colored books filled with enchanting stories. These books are part of the NICU Mobile Library, a heartwarming program launched to bring the power of reading into the most fragile beginnings of life. Born from a partnership between Sarasota Memorial Healthcare System, the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation and supported by The Patterson Foundation and Mom’s Book Nook, the mobile library offers families more than just stories. It offers connection. Parents gently read aloud at their baby’s bedside, building bonds and stimulating early language development, even amid monitors and IV lines. This September, the NICU Mobile Library joined the nationwide Readathon, turning the NICU into a space not only of healing, but also of celebration. Each book shared, each story told, becomes part of a larger movement—one that supports literacy from the very first days of life. A permanent library in the NICU parent lounge allows families to borrow books anytime, extending the comfort of stories throughout their stay. For Tina Wilson of First 1,000 Days Suncoast and Katie Clementi, NICU Manager, this program is a testament to what community collaboration can achieve. “The NICU is a difficult experience no matter what the circumstances,” says Clementi. “It’s really important for babies to hear their parents' voices—they recognize them. Whatever we can do as nurses to help parents bond with their babies is important to us and reading is an important part of that bonding.” Sarasota resident, Trisha Birkhold, gave birth to her first babies, twin girls born at just 24 weeks, 6 days. Grace was born weighing just 1.6 oz and her sister, Charlotte, 1.1 oz. “Reading to the babies is super special because you can pick out a book that may be tailored to your own life experiences,” she shares, noting that her husband loves airplanes so the first book they read to Grace was one about airplanes. “I hope that hearing us read to them gives them a sense of calm and less stress.” First 1,000 Days Suncoast began as a vision in 2018 to support children from pregnancy through age three. It has since grown into a tri-county movement with over 90 partner agencies. Through the NICU Mobile Library, they remind us all how stories can brighten the lives of even the most vulnerable.