PrimeTime Makes Reading Together as a Family Easy

PRIME TIME is designed to help 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. The whole family visits the library each week for for six consecutive weeks. Each evening begins with a shared meal. After the dishes are cleared away, a storyteller reads beautifully illustrated, award-winning children’s books that consist of culturally diverse stories from around the world spanning fairy tales, folk tales, fables, historical accounts, and other narrations of real-life circumstances that are familiar to adults and children alike. The discussion leader, or scholar, then guides the group to personally connect with literature and think beyond shallow considerations of who, what, when, and where by applying the Socratic method of open-ended questioning. The program demonstrates how literature can enrich one’s life, models strategies for continued family bonding through literature, and provides families critical information on library resources for continued reading once the program concludes.