Memorial Hospital in South Bend launches Books from Birth program

Babies born at Memorial Hospital will be sent home with their own starter library

By WNDU Staff

Published: Apr. 15, 2026 at 6:07 PM EDT

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SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) - Memorial Hospital in South Bend is beginning a new community partnership for expecting families.

Every baby born at Memorial will receive a starter library. Babies born Wednesday were sent home with 10 new books.

The initiative is expected to reach 2,500 newborns every year, for up to 25,000 books.

Memorial Hospital became the first hospital in Indiana to adopt this partnership and one of only eight hospitals to launch the Books from Birth program nationwide.

Maddie Geyer, a first-time mother and teacher, will be one of the first to benefit from Books from Birth.

“I’m very excited I’m a teacher so I know the importance of reading and how early you should be reading to kiddos and just to have these books to go home with and start his library is very important to us,” Geyer said.

Geyer said she also plans on signing her son up for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. The program sends books directly to the homes of Indiana residents.