Prime Time Family Reading Time

During the Fall and Spring of the school calendar, public libraries, schools, and community centers across the state invite families to dive into an immersive literary experience. The program utilizes award-winning children’s books to stimulate discussion about humanities themes and problems encountered in everyday life. 

Goals of the Prime Time Program:

• • – bond families around the act of reading and learning together
  • – reinforce the role of the family
  • – encourage parents and children to read and discuss humanities topics
  • – help parents and children become active library users
  • – highlight the important role of the library in local communities and daily home life

Each 90-minute session begins with a warm meal provided by the Prime Time host site. Next, families gather, and a storyteller leads them through up to three books. The reading is followed by a facilitated discussion with a scholar. Sessions also include time to introduce families to additional library resources, including homework aids, GED materials, books on parenting and health care, computer/internet resources, and local and international newspapers and magazines. At the end of each session, families are issued books to read before the next session. Issued books are program gifts and are meant to help families start or supplement their at-home libraries.

Programs can be presented in English, or bilingually in Spanish and English. Each Prime Time series typically serves 15 to 20 families comprised of parents or caregivers and children ages 6-12. Sites may also host a supplementary Prime Time Preschool program, which introduces young children (ages 3-5) and their families to the humanities and literature through age-appropriate storytelling and literary exploration via center-based play.