Adult literacy efforts in DeKalb County received a major financial boost through $37,000 given to Kishwaukee College from the State Literacy Grant Programs.

“The volunteer literacy programs we fund are making a significant difference in their communities and throughout the state,” said Secretary of State Jim Edgar, chairman of the Illinois Literacy Council.

Julie Lamb, coordinator of the Literacy Education for Adults Program (LEAP) at Kishwaukee, said the college will also receive an additional $12,000 from the Illinois State Board of Education. The funds are state appropriated and still need to be approved by the Congress, Lamb said.

All money received from the state will support the college’s Literacy Outreach Program for Northwest Illinois. This program, of which LEAP is a part, offers several forms of adult literacy training, including one-on-one tutoring, Adult Basic Education, English as a Second Language classes, home study, and workplace literacy instruction.

The program has served 298 students at 22 tutoring sites throughout Northwest Illinois. “We don’t refuse anyone (who wants to enter the program),” Lamb said.

The program also offers screening, assessing and curriculum development for adult learners with specific learning disabilities.

The state funds will also support Kishwaukee College’s new Reading Readiness Program which involves family literacy. “It encourages reading and writing in the home with the entire family,” Lamb said.

“We are proud of the 36,000 adults in Illinois who have had the courge to ask for reading help,” Edgar said, adding, “They have not only changed their lives for the better, but they also have increased their earning potential and their job productivity, which strengthens our state economy.”

The grants are part of the $5 million program to provide basic reading, writing and computing instruction to adults who read below the sixth grade level. Instruction is offered through the cooperative efforts of professional educators and trained volunteers.

The amount of state money available increased 25 percent this year when Edgar won legislative approval to raise the annual state funding level from $4 to $5 million.

“The increase in funds will enable us to fund nine additional programs and expand services provided by 83 previously funded programs,” Edgar said. Since the establishment of the Secretary of State Literacy Grant Program, nearly $19 million has been distributed to a broad range of literacy providers, including adult education agencies, libraries, volunteer organizations, and community-based programs.

Sauk Valley Community College of Dixon and Highland Community College of Freeport will receive $47,000 and $45,000 respectively for their own literacy programs.