Guelph newborns to go home with literacy bag
Bag includes copy of Goodnight Moon, 2-year no fines library card, healthy recipe book and more
Babies born at Guelph General Hospital (GGH) will get an early introduction to literacy thanks to a partnership between the Guelph Public Library and Guelph General Hospital.
Families will go home with a 'Born to Read' bag, which includes a copy of Goodnight Moon, a 2-year no fines library card and a healthy recipe book.
"Early childhood learning, literacy and reading has always been important to Guelph Public Library," Steven Kraft, CEO for Guelph Public Library told CBC News.
"It's advantageous to capture readers as early as possible and then they become great library users."
Families will also receive information about the hospital's Footprints for the Future program, an initiative that allows families to contribute back to the hospital's Family Birthing Unit and Special Care Nursery.
The program engraves a baby's footprint with their name and date of birth, which will be placed on the Birthday Wall in the hallway outside of the Family Birthing Unit.
"Staff at the Family Birthing Unit work hard to create great starts for babies and their moms and dads," said David Levett, Clinical Director of Maternal and Newborn Special Care Nursery and Pediatric services in a release.