The Minnesota Literacy Council offers both direct service programs and capacity-building services. We support more than 530 community literacy programs and reach nearly 90,000 Minnesotans through these programs and services. Some examples of our impact in the previous year are that: • At-risk children and families gained literacy skills that increase school success. Indicators of success: 97% of preschoolers made gains in school readiness, 4 out of 5 K-3 children maintained or improved their reading skills over the summer, 81% of parents receiving home visits integrated literacy-boosting activities into their family’s routine. • Adults built literacy skills to meet personal goals of advancing in work, school and community life. Indicator of success: 3 out of 4 adults attending the equivalent of 4 months of class or more made educational level gains on Adult Basic Education standardize tests. • Communities were strengthened because of our work to raise awareness of literacy services, encourage volunteerism and share best practices with statewide programs. Indicators of success: The literacy council recruited 1, 115 prospective volunteers, led 144 workshops and trained nearly 3,000 volunteers were trained as literacy volunteers, recruited 115 national service members who enabled host organizations to expand and enhance their literacy activities, built the capacity of citizenship programs in three community programs, and initiated computer literacy partnerships on-site at WorkForce Centers in four Minnesota cities.

Minnesota Literacy Council’s Goals for 2012 1. Our Early Literacy and Families program will help preschoolers improve their early literacy and school readiness skills (80% or more will be able to demonstrate improvement) and coach parents on how to improve their ability to support their child’s learning (90% or more will demonstrate improvement). 2. Our Summer Reads program will help K-3 grade children maintain or improve their reading skills over the summer (85% or more will maintain or improve). 3. Our Adult Basic Education classes will help adults make educational level gains (75% or more who attend class four months or longer will make level gains). 4. Our capacity-building staff will recruit volunteers, provide quality training and technical assistance, develop online learning opportunities and place national service members in organizations to enhance our collective ability to strengthen literacy skills in our state and beyond.

The literacy council values lifelong learning and offers literacy programs to Minnesotans of all ages, preschool through adulthood. We also support more than 530 community literacy programs with training and technical assistance.

statewide