It's Prime Time for reading at Flatwoods library

By LEE WARD / THE INDEPENDENT

FLATWOODS July 13, 2006 09:20 am

— I like to read,” Nathan Patterson, 6, proudly announced at the Flatwoods branch of the Greenup County Public Library.
The boy, who will enter the first grade this fall, has a head start on reading, thanks to his grandmother, Jody Patterson of Flatwoods, who brings him to the library for the Prime Time Family Reading program.
Families come to the library at 6 p.m. on Mondays and have dinner together, followed by a program that includes the reading of a story and discussion about it. Children are divided into age-appropriate groups for the program. Participants take home books to read together before the next week, so they’ll be prepared to talk and ask questions.
Patterson said she learned about the program because she and her grandson are regulars at the library; staff members there told her about it and she brought a neighbor and her children.
“I’ve worked with Nate (on reading) since he was 2 1/2 years old,” Mrs. Patterson said, adding she first taught him the alphabet. “If you can’t read, you can’t do anything.”
Mrs. Patterson said she loves to read, too — her mother was an avid reader.
“She told me that books are your friends,” she said. “They can take you anywhere in the world you want to go.”
Prime Time’s goal is to teach that lesson to those who participate. Each Monday through July 31, the free program will continue, teaching the love of reading with lessons on dreams, determination and cleverness. At the end of the program, children will get their own book to keep.
Patterson said she thinks this program is helping with her grandson’s reading comprehension.
“I think it makes him think,” she said. “We read the books and I ask questions and it encourages him to ask questions here, too.”
Even at his young age, she said she can leave him a note that he can read and understand.
The program is meant to extend the Kentucky Humanities Council’s efforts to improve literacy, executive director Virginia Smith said.
“Since 1989, we’ve produced and distributed New Books for New Readers, which are aimed at adult literacy students. Prime Time targets at-risk readers before it’s too late to turn them around,” she said. “Homes without books are lives without hope.”
But Prime Time also benefits parents. The council found that parents who participate in Prime Time improve their parenting skills and, in 29 percent of the cases studied, improve their employment status.
“I really appreciate this program and I’m glad this area got it,” Patterson said.
Although the program is halfway complete, new participants are still welcome.
Prime Time, hosted by the library, the Kentucky Humanities Council and the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, has won awards from the Public Library Association and the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities.

LEE WARD can be reached at lward@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2661.

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