NATCHEZ — Literacy is one of the keys to success, and a local church wants to use Black History Month as an opportunity to promote literacy.

On the first Sunday in February, across the nation churches will celebrate the African-American Read-in, an event designed to bring attention to the literary legacy of black writers.

Zion Hill Baptist Church, located at 349 Lower Woodville Road, will host the event at 11:15 a.m. Feb. 3.

“We try to encourage people to make literacy part of the black history month celebration,” Zion Hill member Rosena Profice said.

The literary works can be simple reading or very elaborate pieces of literature, Profice said.

“The main focus is to use the works of African-American writers,” she said.

This year will be the third time the church has done the program, and it has achieved its intended goals each year with more and more people asking to participate.

“Our attendance has grown as well,” Profice said. “We saw a need to involve as many people as possible.”

In keeping with the theme of the importance of literacy, everyone who attends the celebration will be given a copy of a book written by a black author, Profice said.

“We have more than 30 selections to choose from,” she said.

This year, the church’s program is going to be led by five members of the same family.

The family will read the poem “Christian” by Maya Angelou.

The younger three members of the family will be reading the stanzas, and the older two will read the first lines of the stanzas.

When they reach the last stanza, they will read in unison.

Two guest readers, retired Natchez schools teacher Barbara Winston and Jackson public schools teacher Jamie Profice, will also read selections during the program.