The Willis H. Lott Learning Resources Center (LRC) at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College’s Perkinston Campus has partnered with the Mississippi Humanities Council to host a family literacy program.  The weekly programs are being held on the second floor of LRC each Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. through March 10.

“Approximately 18 families attend each week, and they are very enthusiastic about the program,” said Vanessa Ritchie, assistant dean of the Learning Resource Center at the Perkinston Campus. “We are pleased with the response to the program by the participants and the support of the community organizations and businesses.”

The program, PRIME TIME FAMILY READING TIME®, targets children aged 6 to 10 and their parents in an effort to foster a lifelong love of learning through reading. PRIME TIME, a six-week series of reading and discussion programs, includes sessions on such themes as fairness, greed, courage, cleverness and determination. A discussion leader and a storyteller introduce parents to the benefits and pleasures of reading and discussing stories with their children. The program aims to expand participants’ understanding of reading through the use of children’s literature with substantial humanities content.

PRIME TIME programs are sponsored by the Mississippi Humanities Council and National Endowment for the Humanities, with local sponsorship by the Friends of the Stone County Libraries and the Perkinston Campus Office of the Vice President.

The programs are free and include food, door prizes and gift books.  Fun story times that encourage early reading skills for 3- to 5-year-old siblings are also offered.

For more information, contact local site coordinators Shugana Williams or Laura Savage at 601-928-6259 or via e-mail at pklibrary@mgccc.edu.