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NEW ORLEANS — Applications are now open to host free family engagement and reading programs that address themes such as caring, sustainability, and the foods that influence our lives.

Applications will be accepted from Sept. 15 through Oct. 17 at www.primetimefamily.org for organizations that would like to host either Prime Time Family Reading, for ages 6-10, or Prime Time Preschool Reading, for ages 3-5.

An initiative of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities (LEH), Prime Time programs start with a shared meal, and then a storyteller reads families an award-winning children’s book. Following the reading, families are engaged in discussion around the themes found in the book using open-ended questions such as “what is a similar situation you have experienced,” “what would you do differently,” and “why.”

Prime Time programs are free for the organizations that host them and for the families who attend. Eligible organizations include schools, libraries, museums, churches, government entities, and other community-based agencies that possess a valid EIN#. Organizations whose applications are approved will host the 90-minute sessions once a week for six weeks. Each partner site will receive a $1,000 site support stipend, stipends for team members, and a set of the children’s books used during the program. Participating families also keep all books for their personal home libraries.

“Prime Time programs take place in both spring and fall. Right now, fall programs are kicking off in schools, churches, community centers – any place that welcomes families – in 21 parishes in Louisiana and six states across the United States,” said Miranda Restovic, president and executive director of the LEH and Prime Time, Inc. “Prime Time provides everything an organization needs to implement a reading program, including training, books, support throughout the program, and more than 30 years of experience implementing family engagement and reading programs. We encourage any organization that has an interest in improving literacy and family engagement in its community to apply.”

For more information about Prime Time reading programs, visit www.primetimefamily.org or email primetime@leh.org.