About the Eastern Iowa Reading Council

    EIRC is an active council serving the counties of Buchanan, Delaware, and the western part of Dubuque.  We continue to flourish because we are not just about meetings.  There are many programs and projects in place to share with our council members, and we have received numerous awards and recognition for them.  Our council continues to address the literary needs of our schools, of our professions, and of our personal lives. 

History of Eastern Iowa Reading Council

Thank you to Leann Van Dyke for presenting this history for our council.

"40 years as a council....that thought makes me so happy and proud of how far our council has come!

Here's a little insight into how our council came to be.  I started teaching Title 1 Reading in 1975 in Graettinger, Iowa, a town in northwest Iowa between Emmetsburg and Estherville.  During the two years I was there, I belonged to the reading council in that area.  So when I moved to Manchester in 1977, I wanted to continue my involvement in the organization.  Unfortunately, the closest council was in Dubuque so Lucia Hutchcroft, another Title 1 reading teacher and I drove to some of their meetings during that school year.  We discussed starting up a reading council in the Manchester area and the idea took hold.

In 1979, I sent out letters to surrounding schools, including Independence where my college friend, Nancy White, taught.  I set up an organizational meeting at Lambert to see if there was interest in going forward.  I remember the following teachers attending: Nancy White and Wilma Pitkin from Independence, Gladys Richardson from East Buchanan, Betty Herman from a parochial school in Petersburg, Mary Huber from Maquoketa Valley, and Lucia and me from West Delaware. There might have been a few more, as well.

We met several more times that year and I contacted Doris Roettger, the Iowa Reading Council membership chairman, who was a tremendous help in following the steps to form a new reading council.  Colleen McClanahan, the head of the Title 1 program in Iowa, also provided support.

During the 1980-81 school year, we had some meetings with guest speakers and catered meals.  Both Doris Roettger and Grace Leinen, the reading coordinator for the Cedar Falls school system, came to our meetings, receiving no pay or gas money, but a meal and our thanks!  Our dues were $4 with $1 going to the state council.  We received our official charter in the spring of 1981.

Finally, I remember typing the by-laws for our group on an old manual typewriter (Yikes!).  I served as the first president for the remainder of the 1981 school year and happily turned that job over to Betty Herman for the next school year.

It's been fun reliving these memories and my thanks goes to all the dedicated teachers who have carried on the dream of this council."