2008 Grantees

Argo High School #2 $1,000
Argo Reads is a school-wide book club entering its third year. The book club is one of the library's newest initiatives to foster literacy. The library also participates in the Illinois State Library-sponsored Read for a Lifetime promotion.

BEST Adult Literacy Program$5,000
This is a second chance program geared to those individuals who read at a level lower than the ninth grade. BEST serves residents in Englewood/West Englewood and the surrounding area.

Book Worm Angels$5,500
Book Worm Angels is Chicago's only literacy program providing in-classroom lending libraries to public elementary schools where the majority of students read below grade level.

BREAD for the Head$5,000
BREAD serves low-income children in after-school programs in Chicago and Cook County. BREAD's mission is to provide these children with new, quality books, encourage pleasure-reading and create an ongoing community of readers.

Cabrini Green Tutoring$5,000
For 40 years the Cabrini-Green Tutoring Program has been dedicated to defining and responding to children's needs and to creating quality, innovative instructional programs that are not only educational, but boost self-esteem. Since 1965, CGTP has helped thousands of students grow both personally and academically.

Casa Juan Diego$1,500
Casa Juan Diego is a youth center in the Pilsen community that promotes literacy and reading for enjoyment among children ages 6 through 16.

Good News$5,000
The After School Reading Program provides after school remedial reading instruction through one-on-one tutoring to children who have fallen behind their peers in reading. The goal of the program is to enhance the reading skills/reading comprehension of its participants.

Good News Partners$3,000
Good New Partners "Reading Coaches" began in 1998 to provide one-to-one tutoring services for the students at the Gale Academy in East Rogers Park. During the current school year, 16 first graders and 16 second graders are receiving individual tutoring and 70 students are receiving small-group tutoring.

Holy Family Ministries$3,000
Holy Family Ministries (HFM) operates after-school programs for children at risk of low academic achievement and social/cultural isolation. In 2005, HFM initiated the LitART curriculum, which utilizes popular children's literature and targeted activities to engage children in reading. The LitART Program is specifically designed for use in urban after-school programs and serves 20 second and third graders in the Cabrini Green area.

Literacy Works$5,500
Literacy Works is a collaborative literacy training and support project of 50 member organizations operating literacy programs in more than 30 communities across Chicago. Its mission is to fulfill the promise of a basic human right: the right to read, write and interpret the world.

Literature for All of Us$5,000
For the past ten years, Literature for All of Us has been connecting girls and teen mothers, and now boys, to their strengths through literature, engaging them in book groups where they read and discuss literature and write poetry. This nurturing literacy model creates a sense of accomplishment, self-esteem and hope. In their book groups, young people learn to "make sense of the world" as they "make sense of the word."

Sit, Stay, Read$5,500
SIT STAY READ! is a Chicago-based volunteer literacy organization that brings dogs and kids together to make reading fun. SIT STAY READ! programs allow children to read aloud to specially trained therapy dogs. The dogs increase confidence and generate excitement about reading.

Sue Duncan Child Center$5,500
Sue Duncan has been teaching kids at her South Side Chicago after-school children's center since 1960. Her center focuses on addressing the educational and social issues that inner-city kids face, but not without her own unique style of teaching.