Prime Time family reading and discussion series
Contact: Laura Hayes, ALA
312-280-5055
Dana Eness,LEH
504-523-4352, ext. 126
For Immediate Release
September 5, 2003
Applications available for Prime Time family reading and discussion series
Applications are available for PRIME TIME FAMILY READING TIME
®, an award-winning reading, discussion and storytelling series offered by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities (LEH), in partnership with the American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office and with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).
State-level organizations, i.e. state libraries, state humanities councils, centers for the book, and library associations, are invited to apply.
The receipt deadline for applications is October 1, 2003.
Based on illustrated children’s books, PRIME TIME is designed to help low-income, low-literate families bond around the act of reading and talking about books.
It models and encourages family reading and discussion of humanities topics, and aids parents and children in selecting books and becoming active public library users.
PRIME TIME received the 2003
Advancement of Literacy award from the Public Library Association (PLA), a division of the ALA, and the
Coming Up Taller award from the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities in 2000.
This year, PRIME TIME will add 20 sites to its national roster by working with four state-level organizations to present PRIME TIME at five libraries in each state.
State library and humanities organizations are encouraged to partner with public libraries in their states and apply for this grant opportunity.
Libraries interested in participating in PRIME TIME are encouraged to contact their state library, humanities council, or center for the book, or library association.
Selected states will receive grant funding and materials to work with library staff to present the PRIME TIME series at five library sites.
Each series will meet once a week for six weeks at participating libraries.
Through a discussion leader and a storyteller, children ages 6 to 10 years and their parents or guardians will hear classic children’s stories; watch reading aloud demonstrations; discuss humanities themes in each book and learn about library resources and services.
Younger siblings, ages 3 to 5 years, will participate in separate pre-reading activities.
A state project director will work with local project teams to present the series.
Each local project team will consist of a library coordinator, a humanities scholar, a storyteller and pre-school coordinator to present the activities for
younger siblings.
Selected states will receive:
·
Stipends for each site’s scholar(s), storytellers, and pre-school coordinators ($1,650 total per site)
·
Twenty-two sets of reusable books and book bags and up to $75 to ship books and bags to the next site
·
Training and promotional materials, including a site-support manual, pre-school coordinator’s handbook, posters, brochures, fliers, award certificates for participants, and registration forms
·
Up to $100 per session for participant transportation
·
Travel, lodging and most meals for the project staff (state and local project directors, scholars, and storytellers) for a mandatory training workshop in New Orleans January 16-18, 2004.
Pre-school coordinators are not required to attend the training.
Project directors also will be required to attend a one-day planning session in New Orleans on November 13, 2003 (travel, lodging, and most meals are covered by the grant).
PRIME TIME is based on a successful series of the same name that was created by the LEH in 1991 at the East Baton Rouge (La.) Parish Library and has spread nationally with funding from NEH.
Nearly 11,000 individuals have participated in more than 300 PRIME TIME programs in 32 states and the Virgin Islands.
The ALA Public Programs Office fosters cultural programming by libraries of all types.
Established in 1990, the office helps thousands of libraries nationwide develop and host programs that encourage dialogue among community members and works to establish librariesas cultural centers in their communities.
For more information and to download an application, visit www.ala.org/publicprograms or www.leh.org.
Questions about PRIME TIME should be directed to Dana Eness, LEH, at eness@leh.org or Laura Hayes, ALA Public Programs Office, at lhayes@ala.org.
