Four More Libraries to Host Humanities-Based Literacy Program for Families
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- June 22, 2010
CONTACT: Scott Hirko, Public Relations Officer,
shirko [at] mihumanities.org, 517-372-0029 ext. 25
also in PDF
Libraries in Hamtramck, Highland, Marquette, Muskegon among
13 in Michigan to implement program
(LANSING)----The Michigan Humanities Council announces it will implement PRIME TIME Family Reading Time®, a humanities-based family program focusing on reading, discussion, and storytelling, to four additional public libraries in Michigan: Hackley Public Library in Muskegon; Peter White Public Library in Marquette; Highland Twp. Public Library in Highland; and, Hamtramck Public Library in Hamtramck. A total of 13 libraries will implement PRIME TIME this year: on April 29, the Council announced nine communities will host the program: Adrian, Alpena, Cassopolis, Charlevoix, Jackson, Monroe, Morenci, Saginaw, and South Haven. The Council is one of four organizations recently awarded a Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities grant to expand PRIME TIME Family Reading Time® to additional libraries. The grant award of up to $60,000 is a partnership with the American Library Association, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
“The Michigan Humanities Council is pleased to work with local libraries to bring this essential, humanities-based literacy program to additional families in Michigan,” said Janice Fedewa, executive director of the Michigan Humanities Council. “In the past three years, PRIME TIME has helped hundreds of families bond around the act of reading and become lifelong readers.”
PRIME TIME Family Reading Time® is a six-week program that targets non-library-using families and helps parents and children become enthusiastic readers and active public library users. The program uses 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 Family Reading Time® in each of the past two years.
Contact information for PRIME TIME Family Reading Time® program coordinators at each of the four libraries is below:
- Hackley Public Library, Muskegon: Jim Horan, jhoran@hackleylibrary.org,
231-722-7276. Sessions will be held in Spring 2011.
- Hamtramck Public Library, Hamtramck: Konrad Maziarz, kmaziarz@hamtramck.lib.mi.us, 313-365-7050. Sessions will be held in Spring 2011.
- Highland Township Public Library, Highland: Kathleen Linn, klinn@highland.lib.mi.us, 248-887-2218 ext. 4. Sessions to be held between April 6 and May 11, 2011.
- Peter White Public Library, Marquette: Lynette Martin Suckow, lynette@uproc.lib.mi.us, 906-228-9510. Sessions will be held from 10:30 am to 12:00 pm from September 25 to October 30, 2010.
PRIME TIME Family Reading 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 a private, 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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