Stateline foundation urges Beloit to champion 'Read, Talk, Play Every Day' early‑learning movement

Jessica Austin, director of early brain development for the Stateline Community Foundation, urged the Beloit City Council to publicly back a countywide early‑learning initiative during a presentation moved up on the agenda. Austin represents Literacy for Life and the Read, Talk, Play Every Day initiative, which she described as a coordinated effort to make early brain‑building practices a routine part of daily life for families with children from birth through age 5.

Austin said research shows about 85% of a child’s brain development occurs before age 5 and argued that investing in early childhood yields long‑term community benefits, including reduced special‑education costs and lower crime. She described Read, Talk, Play Every Day as a “parent‑facing” movement that puts short messages and activities into multiple community touchpoints — hospitals, parks, waiting rooms and text messages — so caregivers see and reuse simple practices consistently.

The program’s Basics Insights text service sends a short developmental fact on Mondays and an activity idea on Wednesdays, Austin said. She told the council the Stateline Community Foundation supports the texting service and that the initiative has more than 1,000 families signed up countywide for Basics Insights. She also said roughly 400 of those enrolled are local to the area targeted in her presentation. Austin said more than 30 organizations are signed on as partners and that materials — flyers, booklets and videos — are available on the initiative’s website, readtalkplayeveryday.com.

Austin highlighted the city’s investment in a new Discovery Place at the Beloit Public Library as a complementary “destination” for hands‑on learning, but she emphasized that destinations alone are not enough. “We need destination spaces like Discovery Place … and we need everyday touch points on buses, at grocery stores, in the mail, in homes where learning moments are accessible to everyone,” she said.

Council members asked how the program works in practice and how success is measured. Austin described partners distributing materials at births, pop‑up play events, and ongoing community outreach; she reiterated that the text messages and recurring exposures across trusted locations are intended to build uptake. She offered to provide paper copies of the program brochures and said contact information and materials are available at readtalkplayeveryday.com.

Austin did not ask the council to create a new city department or program; instead she asked council members to be “visible, vocal champions” who publicly endorse the movement and consider integrating Read, Talk, Play messaging into city communications (parks, buses, newsletters, utility bills) and planning documents. She said the texting portion is currently paid for by the foundation and that other outreach items could be explored via partnership or grant funding.

The presentation concluded with Austin inviting further conversations and offering to supply materials to the council and city staff. No formal action or vote on the initiative was taken at the meeting.