Margaret Reed Crosby Memorial Library will be hosting the Mississippi Prime Time Reading Program next month.

The program will be held every Tuesday from 5 to 7 p.m., from September 4 until October 9.

Mississippi Prime Time Reading is a statewide reading program developed by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities and adopted by the Mississippi Humanities Council that focuses on marginally literate parents and their lower elementary age children, a release from the library states.

Library Assistant Megan Nix Miller said the program will be funded with a $2,500 grant received by the Mississippi Humanities Council. The grant requires the library to provide a match, which Miller said will be covered with volunteer hours, community donations, snacks provided during the course of the event, prizes and use of the public facility.

Miller said that during the event several discussions will encourage families to read together at home. Each week participants will be encouraged to talk about a book with staff from the various resource centers in town, she said.

Families with children aged between 3 to 5 can participate in a story hour program, Miller said.

Volunteers and a childcare attendant will engage children through stories, crafts, songs and other activities, she said.

Snacks and door prizes will be available during the event, Miller said.

The event is free and open to the first 25 families who register. Applications can be picked at the Margaret Reed Crosby Memorial Library or downloaded from the library’s Facebook page, Miller said.

The registration deadline is August 24.