This week the Illinois State Library spotlights De La Salle Institute in Chicago.

Life on the run from the authorities is not very conducive to the growth and development of a child. Born to a gang member who was wanted for murder, this learner only attended school for a few days each week until the second grade. After the second grade, he did not attend school at all.

Now nineteen years old, he attends classes at the Tolton Center of the De La Salle Institute at the Chicago Bee Branch Library because he wants to learn to read. He has received tutoring from both a volunteer tutor and the Director of the Tolton Center. The young man says, “People who don’t have to care about me take time to help me.”

He can see that he is making good progress and now has hope for a productive future.