By Julianna Petchak
“The kids are irrepressible.”
Dr. Helen Taylor, LSUS professor of English and director of the Master of Liberal Arts program, is quick to characterize her experience as a discussion leader with Prime Time Family Reading Time.
Prime Time was designed to get children and their parents reading and discussing humanities topics, including history, literature and ethical issues.
They meet each week for an hour at Atkins Branch Library to hear a storyteller read award-winning children’s books. A university scholar – either Taylor or Dr. Thomas DuBose, associate professor of English – then leads a discussion about the books.
The children are very enthusiastic about the program, Taylor said. “They read the story ahead of time and follow along in their books as the story is being read. They always want to talk,” she said.
Parents attend the sessions with their children and many of the questions are directed to them, Taylor said. To get the parents to talk – not always an easy task – discussion leaders ask them if what the children have just answered is true. They also ask the children if what the parents have said is true.
“We try to play one group against the other,” Taylor said. “And we try to model the ways they can talk with their kids about books.”
Taylor said she feels Prime Time is making a difference in several ways. The program gets parents to talk about books with their children and breaks down their inhibitions about going to the library.
“It helps them discuss the values and decisions of the characters in the books, and gets the families into the library,” she said. “The library becomes a familiar place where the families know people by name and will hopefully come back to check out books and use the Internet.”
Prime Time is a lot of work, but Taylor said she really enjoys the program. Although the sessions only last one hour per week, Taylor spends a lot more time on the program. In addition to her own preparation, she and the storyteller meet to plan the content and structure of the sessions each week.
She also helps with the food provided to the families at the sessions. “I had to make a lot of sandwiches!” she said. In addition to bread and cookies, she has also bought LSUS T-shirts, mugs and other items to donate as prizes.
Taylor said she plans to return to Atkins for the program next fall, and she may also be involved with Prime Time at another library in the spring.