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| March/April 2008 Issue
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 Paula Godfrey, Special Projects & Grant Services Coordinator for the Pinellas Public Library Cooperative, and PRIME TIME program co-coordinator at the Clearwater Main Library shares weekly progress of this exemplary program with her team, State Project Coordinators, PRIME TIME staff, and our newsletter subscribers. This program is the first of eighteen NEH-funded sites to be implemented in 2008 and should give inspiration to upcoming programs.
WEEK 1-
Good Morning Ladies,
We had a smooth start in spite of the terrible weather. With heavy rains beginning at 4:30 pm and the area undergoing a tornado watch, we still had 16 families in attendance, which amounted to 64 participants.
Click to read complete 3-week journal! |
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|  Libraries in Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Oklahoma were selected to participate in the 2008 phase of the PRIME TIME FAMILY READING TIME bilingual national expansion, funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Sites that have scheduled programs during the spring session include the following:
- Clearwater Main Library, FL (February 26-April 1)
- Clewiston Library, FL (April 21-May 27)
- Hoyt Public Library, MI (April 1-May 6)
- Paterson Free Public Library, NJ (March 3-April 14)
- Kearny Public Library, NJ (April 24-June 5)
- Woodside Community Library, NY (May 22-June 26)
- Norman Public Library, OK (April 8 - May 13)
Thirty-six states and the Virgin Islands have implemented PRIME TIME programs since the pilot program was developed in East Baton Rouge Parish in 1991 with an LEH grant. |
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 The deadline to apply for a PRIME TIME FAMILY READING grant for the Fall 2008 session in Louisiana is April 15, 2008. Public libraries, schools, community centers, and other public institutions are eligible to apply. To fill fall and spring sessions, PRIME TIME grants are awarded twice per calendar year.
WHAT THE GRANT PROVIDES:
- Training for 3 team members in New Orleans
- Selected syllabus of books for 25 families (loan)
- Team member stipends
- Transportation for participating families
- Promotional materials
- On-going technical support
For more information about PRIME TIME please visit our webpage http://www.leh.org/html/primetime.html.
For more information on bringing PRIME TIME to your community, please contact Faye Flanagan, Project Director at flanagan@leh.org.
Click here for library and institutional application forms. |
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 The Public Library Association (PLA) has scheduled its annual conference this month in Minneapolis, Minnesota, March 25-29. A session entitled Prime Time Family Reading: Hardwiring Alliances for Success will be presented on Thursday, March 27 at 2:00 p.m. This session, including a panel of librarians from Louisiana, Nebraska, and New Mexico, will be moderated by Faye Flanagan, Director of PRIME TIME in Auditorium Room 3 in the Minneapolis Convention Center.
Anyone attending the PLA conference is encouraged to make plans to attend this session in which Pat Leach, Youth Services Supervisor at the Lincoln City (Nebraska) Public Libraries; Karen McPheeters, Director of Farmington (New Mexico) Public Library; and Olivia Pass, Associate Director of PRIME TIME, will share their experiences in facilitating alliances and coalitions while implementing this award-winning program. PRIME TIME was the recipient of the Public Library Association’s 2003 Advancement of Literacy Award, which recognizes an organization that has made a significant contribution to the advancement of adult literacy.
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 On March 6 at the 2008 Annual Conference of the Louisiana Library Association in Shreveport, Dr. Olivia Pass, PRIME TIME Associate Director, moderated a panel of experienced team members who discussed how PRIME TIME truly helps “design the future.” The methodology and format of the program allow it to be implemented in libraries, schools and other public venues that serve many different population groups. Currently, pilot sites are adapting the family literacy model to alleviate truancy problems among young people, improve reading at troubled middle schools, help low-literacy families displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and aid Hispanics who are new to the United States. Panelists included Vivian McCain, Lincoln Parish Library; Carmelee Thorpe, Bethune Middle Academy; Miranda Restovic, Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities; and Betty Cannon, Broadmoor Library.
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 On March 7th and 8th, the fourth annual PRIME TIME training workshop was held at the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill outside of Harrodsburg, Kentucky. Kathleen Pool, Associate Director of the Kentucky Humanities Council, Inc., welcomed everyone to the historical setting, including Virginia Carter, Director of the Kentucky Humanities Council; Carol Baughman, State Coordinator for the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives; and Faye Flanagan, Director of PRIME TIME FAMILY READING TIME®. Eight experienced team members joined these individuals as trainers for the two-day workshop.
In spite of the several inches of snow, which blanketed the village, approximately 25 workshop participants enthusiastically embraced the philosophy and methodology of the PRIME TIME model. Participating team members represented 16 libraries across Kentucky.
Program Director Faye Flanagan praised the partnership of the Kentucky Humanities Council and the Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives, calling it “an exemplary cooperative endeavor.” She attributes the success of the workshop to the Kentucky trainers, especially Kathleen Pool, who serves as the state project director. “Kathleen is one of the greatest supporters of PRIME TIME and has marshaled some of the most amazing talent in Kentucky to bring this program to 47 sites since 2004, with twenty more planned for 2008,” said Flanagan.
Visit the Kentucky Humanities Council PRIME TIME Website. |
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 From July 7 to July 31, approximately 25 New Orleans kindergarten through 8th grade teachers will participate in the "Prime Time for PRIME TIME in New Orleans Schools" Institute for Advanced Study (TIAS) that will provide instruction in the PRIME TIME FAMILY READING TIME® methodology. A partnership between the LEH and the University of New Orleans, the Institute will be co-directed by Dr. Nancy Dixon, who teaches at the University of New Orleans and has been a PRIME TIME scholar for several years, and Dr. Olivia Pass, the Associate Director of PRIME TIME who has served as a PRIME TIME scholar for 7 years as well as a program coordinator for PRIME TIME. The Institute will be held at the Louisiana Humanities Center at Turner’s Hall in New Orleans. Guest instructors include Jack Heflin, Endowed Professor of English at the University of Louisiana at Monroe and a PRIME TIME scholar, and Cindy Treme, a PRIME TIME storyteller from Lake Charles.
In this Institute, teachers will employ PRIME TIME methodologies and books to enhance their ability to teach reading and critical thinking skills in grades K-8. They will also learn techniques for character education. "Teachers will learn to foster discussion, focus on real-life issues, and explore humanities issues by means of award-winning children's and young adults' books," said Nancy Dixon. Participating teachers will create lesson plans that they will use in their classes during the upcoming school year.
Participating teachers will receive a $750 stipend and are eligible to receive 3 hours of graduate credit from the University of New Orleans, as well as 45 CLUs. Furthermore, UNO has waived tuition.
For more information, contact Miranda Restovic at restovic@leh.org.
Click to view program brochure.
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