ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — This year, the Rochester General Hospital NICU is participating in a country wide Babies with Books read-a-thon. This annual competition helps support NICU families, and celebrate shared reading. The read-a-thon encourages NICU staff members all across the country to read with babies. It started in 2022 with just 39 participating NICUs and has been growing since, with over 190 participating and over 51,000 reading sessions during last years read-a-thon. "It's a great way to just take a few minutes out of a busy day, read a sweet little book to a baby, enrich them a little bit, watch their facial expressions change as you read to them, watch their eyes change, listen to their breathing changes," NICU Nurse Manager Sarah Kyley said. "Sometimes you'll get a little smile occasionally. It's just nice to make that connection with a family." Rochester General Hospital has been taking part in the event since 2020 and led all hospitals in reading rate in 2021 and 2022.