Nebraska Humanities Council Seeks New Prime Time Libraries

The Nebraska Humanities Council wants to expand Prime Time Family Reading Time to public libraries in Nebraska communities and neighborhoods where student reading scores are not meeting state standards. Since 2002, the Nebraska Humanities Council has funded Prime Time—a six-week reading and discussion program for low-income families with children ages six to 10—at 14 libraries and five schools in 13 communities across the state. Last summer, Prime Time expanded beyond Spanish-speaking families to help fund sessions at Omaha’s Washington Branch library, serving African-American families from neighborhoods where poverty is high and student reading scores are low. According to John Bernardi, director of the Washington Branch, several participants told him that Prime Time was “one of the best programs the library offers and that it has become very important to them.” For more information or to apply as a new Prime Time site, go to: http://www.nebraskahumanities.org/programs/prime.html or contact the NHC office at (402) 474-2131 or e-mail: nhc@nebraskahumanities.org.