Welcome to the Iowa Literacy Council

Dear Iowa Literacy Council Members and Friends,

On behalf of the board of directors I am delighted to welcome you to our homepage.

We are looking forward to a productive partnership with all of you involved in adult education in Iowa and more.

We know a strong partnership with you leads to more adults achieving literacy levels to help them continue their upward mobility in life, a move that impacts the entire family!

As partners, the Iowa Literacy Council shares the responsibility for student success and want you to know that we will do our very best to partner, support and be your voice not only in Iowa but nationally.

Please consider becoming a member of the Council, the benefits of membership expand to COABE (Coalition on Adult Basic Education) including updates, new resources and professional development, see more information on our membership page.

I would also like to personally invite you to join us at our Summer Conference, which will be held June 28 – 30, 2023. We will have great sessions, collaboration, new initiatives, and we will also showcase the programs and people making a difference with our adult learners in our state. More information coming soon.

THANK YOU for everything you and your teams do for adult education and success in our state, I am very proud to work with you and being part of our volunteer board of directors, know that your work is changing lives and families every day!

I look forward to seeing you at the Summer Conference!

Juan M. Garcia
Iowa Literacy Council
President – Board of Directors

The Role of Adult Education

Did you know that there are 36 million adults that can not read or write at the fourth grade level?  Low skill levels are a fundamental barrier to every major challenge facing the United States.   This video is a wonderful resource to show the role and impact of Adult Education.

Dear ILC Members,

Time goes by so quickly, and our website is overdue for an update.

When I think about the last few years, what comes to mind is the resilience and flexibility we all demonstrated during Covid and the determination we all had to continue with as much normalcy as possible under abnormal conditions.

Here we are in 2023 without masks (most of us) and hope that the pandemic will never be repeated. Even though we found ways to continue to serve our students, it was challenging. Could we do it again if we had to? Definitely.

We are in our second year as a state association affiliated with COABE. We are also planning the summer conference for June 28-30, 2023. It is going to be exciting and will focus on collaboration, education and inspiration. There will be great keynotes and sessions and an exhibit room that will be overflowing with innovation and opportunity.

We are also at a point where our dues structure has been determined by the Executive Committee of the Iowa Literacy Council, and we invite you to continue your membership or join as a new member to reap the benefits of comembership with COABE.

In March, you will receive an invoice for ILC membership for $45.00. Please either pay individually or urge you supervisors to submit payment for you. Either way, we welcome you to ILC.

Dr. Helene Fein
Executive Director
Iowa Literacy Council

Iowa Literacy Council New Dues Structure 

The Iowa Literacy Council will be adopting a new dues structure to benefit members while assuring the viability of the state association.

We are adopting the COABE membership structure since we are a state association affiliated with COABE. There are many benefits to being a member of COABE which can be viewed at https://coabe.org/membership. Iowa Literacy Council membership benefits include reduced conference registration, connections to professional development, etc. We are negotiating to also receive the COABE Journal.

Here is the dues structure:

2023 Iowa Conference- Conference registration will be $150 per person. This year only, registration will include COABE/ILC membership.