Vol. 22, No. 1

I am amazed that more than a year has passed since I became president of LLC. As I look back on the last several months, I begin to understand why.

Most of my time, along with that of many others, has been spent in the Organizational Evaluation (OE) process, which was requested of us by our main government funding body, the National Literacy Secretariat. Many people, including myself, have been actively involved with this process, which was carried out on LLC's behalf by Diane Abbey Livingston and Associates (DAL). DAL put in a tremendous amount of time and effort to produce our OE document, and I would like to thank them for this.

The OE process is now finished, however, we are not. From the information and suggestions of DAL, we are now moving into the Strategic Planning process. Part of this process involves putting into practice some of the suggestions received from many of LLC’s members.

LLC has a Strategic Planning Committee in place that includes core members from the OE Committee, as well as new members that provide their many and varied insights into the workings of this organization. A large group of LLC's members met in Ottawa in late October to begin the process of planning the Strategic Plan.

Health

Resources

Training

Poetry

We at LLC are dedicated to making the OE report into a "live" document that serves LLC and its members in the best possible ways. I look forward to the next year with great anticipation, as we are going into a process that will only give us greater strength, cohesion, and will also direct us down the best road we can possibly take.

I would like to thank each and every one that took the time and effort to participate in the OE process. Your responses are going to help LLC shape the future!

Unita Esau, President

Dr. Bob Laubach Student Fund

Every Spring LLC puts a call out to councils for project ideas for submission to the Dr. Bob Laubach Student Fund Committee. This fund was specifically designed to support student activities and goal/initiatives. This year’s winners were announced in May in Montreal, Quebec at LLC’s President’s Reception. They are:

Laubach Literacy New Brunswick’s Student Advisory Committee (James Mitton and Yvonne Westall) for their Tour the Store project. - awarded $1,000.

Literacy Council York-Simcoe (Peter Fitzpatrick and Bernie Brown) for their Literacy Festival Support project. - awarded $500.

Barrie Literacy Council (Gary Porter and Pennyann Tibbitts) for their Two-Day Regional Student Conference, in conjunction with the Road to Reading Festival. - awarded $1,000.

Congratulations!