Parents of premature baby praise Dublin City Libraries’ reading initiative

The parents of a premature baby have spoken of how reading to him helped ease the trauma of seeing him in an intensive care unit.

Theo Kirk became a member of Ireland’s incubator Baby Book Club, experiencing his first book at 10-days-old, as part of an initiative by Dublin City Libraries (DCL).

Born at 24 weeks, he weighed just 1.8lbs and spent almost four months in Dublin’s Rotunda Maternity Hospital, much of the time in the neo-natal intensive care unit (Nicu).

But parents Stuart and Regina Kirk, from Clongriffin, Dublin, started reading books to him at 10-days-old in a unique collaboration between DCL and the hospital.

It is being showcased ahead of National Public Libraries Open Day on September 27, the annual celebration that promotes the different services offered by Ireland’s public libraries.

A meeting with Amanda Scott, the Rotunda’s clinical specialist speech and language therapist, saw the Kirks begin their book-reading journey with Theo, now aged one.

“It really kicked off when Amanda left a book trolley in the unit,” software engineer Mr Kirk said.

“I expected them to be all old and dog-eared, but they were all brand new and disinfected.

“We felt it was important to read to Theo. As he got bigger, we were able to take him out of the incubator and cuddle him as were reading the books. It was just amazing.

“I would encourage other parents who find themselves in the Nicu to read to their babies. It absolutely gave us a purpose, and we weren’t just sitting there watching him and staring at the incubator.”

The Kirks read Theo stories such as The President’s Dog and The President’s Cat, bestselling children’s books by Irish author Peter Donnelly, provided to the unit by Dublin City Libraries.

Ms Kirk, a travel consultant, said: “Reading these books made us feel closer to him. We owe our lives to all of the incredible Rotunda staff.

“Theo had his first birthday a few weeks ago and now has his own bookshelf at home.”

Ms Scott said the hospital was delighted that DCL were key partners in the project, as she said reading to babies calmed them, helped bonding and built speech and language skills.

“Libraries provide excellent services for parents with newborns and for young children, from baby book clubs and storytime sessions to parenting resources and early literacy programmes,” Eimear Corcoran, DCL librarian in charge of the initiative in Dublin, said.

“We encourage all parents to explore the wide range of supports available in their local library, where they’ll find welcoming spaces and staff ready to help.”

Following in the footsteps of the initiative in the Rotunda and Coombe hospitals, plans were under way to roll out the scheme to other hospitals in Dublin.

Coinciding with National Public Libraries Open Day throughout September, all library services across the country would be promoting and showcasing the range of services they provide through online promotions, events, workshops and community activities.