Nine Libraries to Host Literacy Program for Families
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- April 29, 2010
CONTACT: Scott Hirko, Public Relations Officer,
shirko [at] mihumanities.org, 517-372-0029 ext. 25
(LANSING)-----The Michigan Humanities Council announces nine libraries will participate in PRIME TIME Family Reading Time®, a humanities-based family program focusing on reading, discussion, and storytelling that takes place in public libraries. This six- to eight-week program targets non-library-using families and helps parents and children become enthusiastic readers and active public library users. The nine libraries are: Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library (Alpena), Cass District Library (Cassopolis), Charlevoix Public Library, Hoyt Public Library of the Saginaw Public Libraries (Saginaw), Jackson District Library – Carnegie Branch (Jackson), Lenawee County Library – Main Branch (Adrian), Monroe County Library System – Navarre Branch (Monroe), South Haven Memorial Library, and Stair Public Library (Morenci).
“The Michigan Humanities Council is pleased to be able to expand its literacy opportunities to more Michigan families,” said Janice Fedewa, executive director of the Michigan Humanities Council. “This program has a proven track record of helping families bond around the act of reading and become lifelong readers.”
PRIME TIME® features award-winning children’s literature to stimulate discussion about humanities themes and issues encountered in everyday life. Each session is 90-minutes and includes the reading of up to three books by a storyteller followed by facilitated discussion with a humanities scholar. Programs typically serve 20 to 25 families comprised of parents and children ages 6 to 12 with separate pre-reading activities planned for children 5 and under. Programs may be presented in English or as a bilingual Spanish/English program. Last year, 1,484 adults and children participated in the program in three Michigan communities.
Libraries in Saginaw and South Haven have participated in PRIME TIME® in each of the past two years. South Haven Memorial Library began this year’s program on April 10 and will have one session per week through May 15, 2010. Hoyt Public Library in Saginaw will conduct its sessions weekly from October 5 through November 9, 2010. The other seven libraries are new PRIME TIME® partners: their programs are to be determined, but will be held between Fall 2010 and Spring 2011.
A list of the contact information at each of the libraries is below:
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PRIME TIME® is a partnership of the Michigan Humanities Council, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, the American Library Association, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Fund of the Grand Haven Area Community Foundation.
The Michigan Humanities Council, founded in 1974, is an independent, non-profit organization funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities. For additional information, please visit: www.michiganhumanities.org or call 517-372-7770.
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Financial support for PRIME TIME Family Reading Time® was provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Fund of the Grand Haven Area Community Foundation.