This January, South Shore Arts and its partners will conduct an art and literature program at five Lake County Libraries.

Making Memories - A Family Enrichment Program brings families together through reading and the arts: bookmaking, writing, music, visual art and drama. Now in its second year, the free program is the first in regionwide collaboration among arts organizations, according to a news release.

Each session features a guest artist and arts organization to lead that week's program and journaling exercises.

A total of five books ("The Gardener" by Sarah Stewart, "The Remarkable Farkle McBride" by John Lithgow, "Harold and the Purple Crayon" by Crockett Johnson, "The Hunter - A Chinese Folk Tale" by Mary Casanova and "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak) are featured throughout the program, a copy of which each family receives at no cost. In the spirit of bringing families closer together, free box lunches are provided at each session.

The program is made possible through the artistic personnel of Books, Brushes and Bands for Education (Hammond), South Shore Chamber Orchestra (Valparaiso) and Towle Theater (Hammond). Children's book illustrator Patrick Girouard and Professor Bill Buckley, a poet-in-residence at Indiana University Northwest, also contributed to the program's content.

Funding comes through a two-year grant from the Legacy Foundation, Lake County's Community Foundation and annual fund gifts matched by a private donor. The program is open to families in East Chicago, Hammond, Lake Station, New Chicago and Gary.

To register, families may call the library in their community: Pastrick branch and main library in East Chicago, Dubois branch in Gary, Howard branch in Hammond or the new Lake Station/New Chicago library branch. Currently, each library is accepting applications; class sizes are limited.

Classes start Jan. 8 at the Pastrick branch, 1008 W. Chicago Ave., (219) 397-5505, and Jan. 10 at the main library, 2401 E. Columbus Drive, 397-2453.

Sessions start Jan. 16 at the Howard branch, 7047 Grand Blvd., 884-1622, and Jan. 17 at the Dubois branch, 1835 Broadway, 886-9120.

Classes begin Jan. 28 at the Lake Station/New Chicago branch, 2007 Central Ave., 962-2409.

For more information about South Shore Arts, call (219) 836-1839 or visit www.southshoreartsonline.org.

- For The Times