Illinois Literacy

              Secretary of State Jesse White recently awarded
more than $6 million in grants to 167 local literacy
projects in Illinois. Grants included those for
Adult/Volunteer Literacy programs, Family Literacy
projects and Workplace Skills Enhancement programs.
ADULT/VOLUNTEER LITERACY — More than $4.2
million was awarded to 84 programs to provide train-ing
for volunteers who tutor adults over age 16 in
basic reading, math, writing or language skills.
Following is an example of an Adult/Volunteer pro-gram
funded last year and how it has changed a per-son’s
life:
A Maytag factory in rural southern Illinois closed,
resulting in the loss of more than 1,000 jobs. One
employee was told he would have to complete several
forms to get assistance in obtaining another job.
“They set me in this room and, well, you can imagine,
there’s all this paperwork I needed to fill out to get
help,” he said. “It hit me that it was over. I told them,
‘I can’t do it. If you want me to fill these out you’re
going to have to help me. I can’t read. I just can’t
read.”
The agency charged with helping employees get new
jobs contacted the literacy program at John A. Logan
College in Carterville. The former employee worked
with a tutor three hours a day, three days a week. In
just a few months he was able to read a children’s
book to his grandkids. He made his first Valentine’s
card for his wife and learned how to read a menu so
he could order for her at a romantic dinner. He is very
proud of what he has accomplished and now says that
losing his job was the best thing that ever happened to
him.
FAMILY LITERACY — Nearly $1.6 million was
awarded to 46 programs to provide parents and chil-dren,
both individually and together, instructional serv-ices
to enhance their basic reading, math, writing or
language skills. Grants are awarded to a partnership
that includes an adult literacy provider, a child-at-risk
organization and a public library. Following is an
example of a successful Family Literacy program fund-ed
last year:
Through ROE DeWitt-Livingston-McLean in
Normal, families are introduced to the public library
and build their competence and confidence in using all
the library has to offer. Over time the librarians notice
the families using the library more on their own,
including older siblings, husbands and extended family
members. Librarians report seeing families who have
been patrons for many years who were introduced to
the library through the Family Literacy programs and
Family Fun Nights.
WORKPLACE SKILLS ENHANCEMENT — Nearly
$500,000 was awarded to 37 businesses and educa-tional
providers to offer employees on-site instruction-al
services to enhance their basic reading, math, writ-ing
or language skills, maintain their employment and
increase their eligibility for promotion. Following is an
example of a successful Workplace Skills program
funded last year:
The major impact of the program at Platinum
Converting in Itasca has been communication and
safety. Many employees had never attended an
English class before it was offered at Platinum. There
had been accidents directly related to communication
problems, but the English classes have helped with
both safety and communication issues.
At the class graduations the employees talked about
their jobs in English. The owners were elated as they
had spent a lot of time and money looking for transla-tors.
One of the employees is now the leader of the
finishing department, where she must speak English
and Spanish in order to communicate between her
group and the managers. She was so excited to get a
promotion because she is a single mom.
The ability to read — something many of us take for granted — can have a far-reaching
impact on your life. Reading can help you get a better job, allow you to travel far from home
or enable you to help your children with their school work.
The adult literacy programs funded by the Secretary of State/Illinois State library have had a
profound impact on people’s lives across the state. In this issue, you will read about how being
laid off was the best thing that ever happened to one man because then he had to learn to
read, and how a young woman with four young children managed to go back to school to learn to read.
Imagine the doors that are now opening for these adult learners. Whether it’s an English language learner
teaching someone else to speak Spanish, the volunteers and learners who received Spotlight Awards, or an
ambitious teen turning an assignment into a bonanza of books for elementary students, you will see in this
issue that literacy makes a difference.
Jesse White
Secretary of State & State Librarian
The Illinois Literacy newsletter is available at www.cyberdriveillinois.com
Jesse White
Secretary of State
& State Librarian ILLINOLIS ITERACY
Secretary White awards more than $6 million to literacy programs
FALL
2007