Literacy Newsletter - Fall 2025.docx

I continue to fight for those who need help the most, and I am proud to assist literacy agencies around the state with funding. This funding is used to provide educational opportunities for those individuals and families who are often marginalized. They deserve the chance to learn so they can better provide for themselves and their families, become self-sufficient and contribute to their communities.

Last fiscal year, nearly 9,000 adult learners and over 800 children benefited from free literacy services through my office’s adult literacy grant program. This issue features stories about a few individuals and their achievements.

As the State Librarian of Illinois, it is my duty to ensure that all libraries and their staff remain safe and that patrons can visit and use their local public library without fear. I am proud to have worked with the State Legislature to pass a law that improves protection for libraries and librarians. Libraries are the cornerstone of a free-thinking society, and any action meant to deter their use must be dealt with by the strictest means possible.

I encourage all families to take part in the annual Family Reading Night coming up on Thursday, November 20. Activities will be held at local libraries and schools around the state, or you can participate at home. My family and I will be turning off the television, putting away our phones and spending the night reading. What better way to end a day than by making memories through reading together?

Alexi Giannoulias Illinois Secretary of State And State Librarian

Photo1/cutline Secretary Giannoulias presents adult learner Donald Ray Finely with a Spotlight on Achievement Award this past May. The award recognizes individuals who have made significant achievements in adult literacy.

Secretary Giannoulias awards over $6.7 million in adult literacy grants In continued support of education and lifelong learning, Secretary Giannoulias has awarded over $6.7 million for FY 2026 in adult literacy grants. This funding will support local literacy programs across the state. More than 8,000 adult learners will receive literacy instruction from over 4,000 volunteer tutors. Additionally, more than 650 families and over 800 children will participate in the Penny Severns Family Literacy Program.

“There are over 1.9 million Illinois residents lacking sufficient literacy and English language skills, keeping them from reaching their maximum potential. I believe that it is my duty to assist agencies across the state that address the educational needs of adult learners and their families,” said Giannoulias. “These agencies are facing negative impacts from federal budget cuts, and these grants will help them continue to position individuals for success and change lives.”

The following are descriptions of the awards distributed:

Adult Volunteer Literacy — $5,165,174 was awarded to 64 projects aimed at training over 4,000 volunteers. These volunteers tutor adults who read below the ninth-grade level or speak English at a beginning level, helping them improve their reading, writing, math or use of English as a new language.

Penny Severns Family Literacy — $1,290,143 was awarded to 26 projects that provide parents and children – both individually and together – instructional services to enhance their basic reading, writing, math or English language skills. Grants are awarded to partnerships with an adult literacy provider, a public library and a child-at-risk agency.

Workplace Skills Enhancement — $94,735 was awarded to eight educational agencies and business partnerships that will offer employees on-site instructional services to enhance their basic reading, writing, math, or English language skills. This support helps employees maintain their jobs and increases their eligibility for promotion. Grants are matched dollar-for-dollar by the participating business.

Three additional grants totaling $197,950 were awarded to three agencies supporting literacy projects throughout the state.

Photo 2/cutline An adult learner (left) works with a volunteer tutor (right) at a Secretary of State adult literacy grant program.

Fiscal Year 2025 Literacy Program statistics and success stories Final reports submitted by programs funded through the Illinois State Library Literacy Office in FY 2025 revealed the following statistics. Success stories from each program follow.

Adult Volunteer Literacy

· 9,094 adults served

· Average age of adult learners was 40.5 years

· 70% of adults served were English language learners

· 3,643 volunteer tutors provided services to adult learners

· Average age of volunteer tutors was 53 years

· The total value of the time that volunteer tutors contributed, calculated at $34.29 per hour, for Illinois was $6,468,029, according to the charitable community group Independent Sector.

Success Story: Triton College, River Forest Shortly after arriving from Ukraine in 2022, an adult learner sought help from Triton College and its Access to Literacy program. She spoke little to no English and only knew the first four letters of the alphabet.

With teaching experience from her home country and a strong motivation to learn, she met with her tutor twice a week for two years. She made remarkable progress in English skills, which showed in her improved post-test scores and increased confidence. She soon enrolled in English language classes at Triton College and continued her one-on-one tutoring sessions, focusing now on English conversation.

With guidance from the coordinator, she learned about the Microsoft Office Specialist program and is currently taking those courses in addition to English tutoring. She is developing the skills necessary to achieve financial independence and pursue her goal of becoming an early childhood teacher in the United States. She plans to apply for scholarships and continue her studies at Triton.

She is always punctual and deeply values her tutor’s donated time. She is not only learning the language but also embracing American culture and serving as a role model for other learners.

During the program's end-of-year recognition ceremony attended by volunteer tutors and learners, she confidently stepped to the front of the room and delivered a heartfelt speech in English. In her remarks, she expressed her appreciation for her tutor and the program. Her inspiring journey reflects the power of persistence, community support and lifelong learning.

Penny Severns Family Literacy

· 557 adult learners served

· 91% of the adults were female

· 77% were English language learners

· Average age of adult learners was 34 years

· 307 participants obtained a library card

· 815 children served

· Average age of children served was 6 years

Success Story: Lewis & Clark Community College, Godfrey Lewis & Clark Community College has many inspiring stories of families who have participated in its family literacy program. Each family brings its own mix of challenges, dreams and strengths, but they all share the same unwavering hope: to build a better future for themselves and their children. Choosing just one story to highlight is difficult because every family's journey is important and impactful.

Among the families served this year, one young woman’s story has become a symbol of what sustained support, perseverance and belief can accomplish. Her connection to the program spans seven years, woven with a path that has not been easy. Her determination was evident and inspiring at each juncture of her journey.

She first walked through the program’s doors in 2017, balancing school with the demands of raising a toddler. Her goal was to earn her GED, so she began participating in family literacy, where she received support through parenting education, childcare and academic instruction. Her progress was initially slow, but she showed up for class, kept trying, and made substantial progress, then COVID hit. During this time, she welcomed her second child and had to pause her studies as “life” had to take the lead.

Still, she didn’t give up. Over the years, the program staff stayed in contact, encouraging her to continue striving for her goals. Now, seven years after she first enrolled, she has earned her Illinois High School Diploma and proudly walked across the graduation stage. Her journey is more than one student’s success story; it is a powerful example of why consistent program funding, long-term relationships, and support from many other agencies matter. The program didn’t just help her pass tests; it helped her believe in herself, find stability, and keep moving forward for her children and herself.

Workplace Skills Enhancement

· 114 employees received instruction

· 59% of the students were female

· Average age of employees was 43.8 years

· 100% of the employees were English language learners

Success Story: Affy Tapple, Niles – Oakton College, Des Plaines Affy Tapple, a caramel apple tradition in Chicago and the Midwest since 1948, began its second-year partnership with Oakton College, offering English language instruction to a group of its employees. Currently, 95% of the company’s employees are non-native English speakers, which significantly impacts the operations of the company and limits employees’ advancement. The company desires to have all employees receive instruction, but maintaining production only allows a third of those needing services to attend the sessions at one time.

The goals of the program are to train Affy Tapple employees to become more fluent in English and less reliant on interpreters so they can meet company goals and expectations, improve their role within the organization, and have a higher quality of life by becoming more comfortable using English at work and in their personal lives.

The impact of the program has been extremely positive. This is the first time many of the employees have had an opportunity to attend English classes. The employees have been very receptive, and Affy Tapple is seeing participants use English more at work, which improves communication with managers, supervisors and fellow workers. One of the students’ normal days off falls on the day the class is held each week, but she attended every class because of her eagerness to learn. The company states that the program has far exceeded its expectations and hopes to increase the number of employees participating in the future.

Correctional Facilities Offering literacy tutoring in correctional facilities provides individuals who are incarcerated with educational opportunities. For some, it is a chance to train their fellow inmates by becoming a tutor. Participants in the program must meet the eligibility criteria of the Adult Literacy Grant program.

· Four literacy programs provided adult basic education or English instruction in local correctional facilities; five programs provided literacy instruction at state facilities

· 730 adult learners qualified and became students

· 145 inmates whose skills exceeded high school levels became peer tutors

· 33 citizens from local communities tutored in correctional facilities

Adult Literacy, Public Library Partnerships Local public libraries serve as an essential partner in educating adult learners. Literacy programs rely on libraries throughout Illinois for various services, and many libraries provide these services to more than one literacy program. In FY 2025, partnerships between libraries and literacy programs led to the achievement of the following results:

· 54 adult literacy projects assisted 1,710 adult learners in obtaining library cards

· 104 libraries provided overhead support to Illinois State Library-funded literacy projects

· 131 libraries offered special collections for adult learners

· 453 libraries provided tutoring space for literacy volunteers to work with adult learners

· 320 libraries provided recruitment and referral of adult learners to literacy projects around the state

(photo 3/no cutline) Family Reading Night November 20 Secretary of State and State Librarian Alexi Giannoulias is encouraging Illinois families to celebrate the Secretary of State’s annual Family Reading Night (FRN) by setting aside time during the evening to read together. The Illinois State Library distributed thousands of colorful posters and bookmarks to libraries, schools and literacy programs across the state to promote FRN.

“Families spending time reading together fosters a love of reading in our children, creates a positive environment for learners, and really strengthens the family unit,” says Giannoulias. “It is never a negative when families read together; in fact, it has been proven that it positively impacts a child’s early literacy and future educational attainment.”

Information and materials for the event are available for download from the Secretary of State’s website at ilsos.gov/departments/library/center_for_the_book/frn.html. The website also provides examples of possible ideas and activities that libraries and literacy projects can use for their upcoming events.

This is the 34th year that the Secretary of State’s office has sponsored FRN. All events are free and open to the public. Contact your local library for events taking place in your community.

For more information about FRN, contact Bonnie Matheis, coordinator of the Illinois Center for the Book, at bmatheis@ilsos.gov.

Law to enhance protections for Illinois libraries and librarians enacted Bipartisan legislation drafted by Illinois Secretary of State and State Librarian Alexi Giannoulias, designed to improve security at libraries and enhance safety for librarians, will take effect on January 1, 2026.

The measure, which was approved in the General Assembly this past spring and signed into law by the governor, allows the Secretary of State’s office to issue funding grants to increase security measures at public, school and academic libraries.

“I firmly believe that libraries should serve as welcoming places for life-long learning and community engagement, but, unfortunately, they have faced increased threats of violence and acts of intimidation in recent years,” Giannoulias said. “Meanwhile, the personal safety and welfare of many librarians have been placed at risk for simply doing their jobs. Their personal safety at work should not be their primary concern.”

The legislation creating the law was sponsored by State Senator Laura Murphy (28th District-Des Plaines) and State Representative Michael Coffey Jr. (95th District-Springfield) and had strong support from the Illinois Library Association and the Illinois Municipal League.

The legislation comes after several libraries across the state received bomb threats in recent years, including the Illinois State Library. There have been more than 25 bomb threats, with multiple libraries responding to repeat threats during the past two years.

While state law contained penalties for threats targeting schools, public officials and human services providers, it did not offer the same protection for all libraries and librarians.

Under the new law, state library grant applicants will have the ability to use funding to install things like security cameras, silent alarms, or security checkpoints, for which funding is not always available, and until now, grants were not authorized to support.

On The Horizon October – Domestic Violence Awareness Month, https://domesticviolence.org/domestic-violence-awareness-month/

October 6-10 – American Association for Adult and Continuing Education Conference, Cincinnati, OH, https://www.aaace.org/page/2025-conference

November 25 – Family Reading Night, https://ilsos.gov/departments/library/center_for_the_book/frn.html

January 14-26, 2026 – Annual Illinois Comprehensive Literacy and Reading Recovery Conference, Chicago, IL, https://nl.edu/national-college-of-education/reading-recovery-center/events/

February 16-18, 2026 – Learning Disabilities Association Annual International Conference, St. Louis, MO, https://ldacon.org/

Digital Resources As the annual Family Reading Night (FRN) approaches in November, here are some links to ideas to share with families to use at home. FRN can be celebrated anytime on any night.

Virtual Family Game Night Apps https://www.letsroam.com/explorer/virtual-family-game-night-apps/ Consider using apps to connect with other family members or another family to have a game night.

Family Home Activities https://activeforlife.com/200-activities-you-can-do-with-kids-at-home/ This link provides a list of more than 200 physical, mental and literacy-based activities that can be done at home with children.

Printable Coloring Pages https://www.education.com/worksheets/coloring/ To complement this year’s Family Reading Night, check out this plethora of coloring worksheets that can be selected by grade, subject or topic.

image1.jpeg image2.jpeg image3.jpeg