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Noelle Day is living proof that one person can make a huge difference.

Noelle is making an impact in the school readiness of many children in Mower County.  In the last year and a half, she has put one book per month into the hands of 1,100 children.  That is 10,000 books given free to encourage a love of reading as well as to develop early literacy skills.

The non-profit organization Noelle founded is called The Read Seed Inc.  Their mission is to: “Support kindergarten and elementary school readiness by increasing access to high-quality, age-appropriate literature and offering other early literacy supports in Mower County, MN.”  They are teamed with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and the job of The Read Seed is to enroll children, birth to age five, and to find funding to support the Imagination Library program.

Having come from a family that read aloud to her and her siblings, Noelle developed a love of reading early.  She majored in Early Childhood and Elementary Education and had further training to obtain her K to 12th grade reading license. She taught first grade, worked in early childhood-family education and later did reading intervention for kindergarten through second grade. She is the mom of three children — 5, 7 and 9.

Being an astute observer during all these experiences, she became aware of some of the barriers children face in learning to read. 

Children who do not have books at an early age and who are not read to have a large disadvantage. So, this enterprising woman decided to do something about this issue and took training in non-profit management and established a non-profit entity to address this need.  It is clear from her demeanor when she describes this work that she is passionate about helping families prepare their children to be kindergarten ready and to love reading.

The Read Seed is grateful to have collaborated with many local organizations and companies to enroll children in a variety of ways, including Austin Aspires, their Neighborhood Block Parties, the mobile food pantry, the Welcome Center and Parenting Resource Center, Mayo Health System, Hormel Foods, QPP, the Austin Public Library, local preschools and daycares, and more. They are always looking for new opportunities to collaborate to reach as many local children as possible.

When a child is enrolled, the child receives in the mail a book each month with their name on it and with suggestions to parents about discussion questions and activities related to the book. The books are all high quality, age-appropriate literature.

Any child, aged birth to their fifth birthday month and with an address in Mower County is eligible for this program.

Besides enrolling children, Noelle and her board must generate the funds to support this program. The cost to The Read Seed is $27 for one child to receive one book a month for one year or $132 for one child for five years.   

Foundations, businesses and individuals have made contributions to support this work.   More donations are always welcome. Information can be found at thereadseed.org.  Noelle also collects new and gently used books to give away when they are enrolling children.

Noelle emphasizes that reading is the absolute foundation of all education opportunities. Those who do not have the opportunity to have books and be read to at an early age start out behind their peers who have been read to.

So, kudos to this enterprising woman who gives her time and energy to make a difference in the lives of our youngest citizens.