64 Parishes

Prime Time and Museum on Main Street

Of, By, and For the People to pilot in Voices and Votes parishes this fall

Published: August 31, 2022
Last Updated: November 29, 2022

Prime Time and Museum on Main Street

Photo by Matthew Hinton

Prime Time Scholar Dr. Daniel Gonzalez leads a Prime Time reading program at the St. Charles Parish Library in Destrehan.

Prime Time staff, scholars, and families have been working together this year to examine and explore the books and themes of our A More Perfect Union book series to create a new bilingual series focused on our shared democracy. This work and the new series have been made possible by generous support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and a grant from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which provided $87.8 million in funding to nearly 300 cultural and educational institutions to help them recover from the economic impact of the pandemic, retain, and rehire workers, and reopen sites, facilities, and programs.

The new bilingual series, Of, By, and For the People, provides English- and Spanish-speaking children and their families the opportunity to enjoy high-quality children’s literature together while discussing and delving into their own American experiences. The big ideas and themes of the series highlight our shared history and how immigrant, resident, and citizen contributions strengthen our nation: historically, in the present, and in the years to come.

Of, By, and For the People will pilot this fall in Caddo, East Baton Rouge, and Livingston Parishes, which will also be hosting the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street traveling exhibit: Voices and Votes: Democracy in America. To further expand the impact of the series we will share it with families in areas where in-person or virtual programming is not yet available by partnering with local organizations to distribute our Prime Time Family and Preschool Boxes, which is a take-home version of Prime Time’s award-winning program in a box filled with books that families can use to build their home libraries, a discussion guide for adults, and other learning materials. Beginning in spring 2023 the series will be available as a choice for programs across the state and country, with a continuing focus on offering it at Voices and Votes exhibit locations to ensure access to rural audiences in several states. Of, By, and For the People will also be at the center of the next season of our popular podcast Little Voices, Big Ideas, which will be produced in partnership with WWNO and Red River Radio through the generous support of the Community Foundation of North Louisiana.