Library Receives State Award for Summer Reading Challenge

City of Carrollton Library Youth Services Supervisor Brittnee Emerine received the 2026 Young Adult Reading Incentive (YARI) award from the Texas Library Association (TLA) last month.

This award honors an individual librarian for exceptional skills in motivating young people to read by developing and implementing a creative and effective reading program for teens in grades 6-12. The recognition spotlights the City's Summer Reading Challenge (SRC) hosted annually by the Carrollton Public Library (CPL). Emerine's outreach and engagement efforts particularly geared toward tweens and teens made the TLA take notice.

While The Library hosts the SRC each year from June 1 through August 1 for residents of all ages to earn prizes by reading and logging minutes, the Youth Services team, led by Emerine, conducts Summer Reading Outreaches each May to drum up interest in the program among local middle and high school students. The librarians personally attend pep rallies or informal presentations in school libraries to inspire student participation in the SRC, and to inform them of upcoming summer programming at the Library.

In 2025, participants logged 3.78 million minutes of reading, setting a new record and demonstrating the success of Emerine's youth-targeted Outreaches. Through reading challenges like these, the CPL is able to motivate infrequent readers, build and maintain literacy skills, encourage consistent reading habits, and generate interest in the Library and its collection.

"I'm incredibly honored to receive the 2026 YARI Award," Emerine said. "The Youth Services Team is committed to helping tweens and teens build those essential reading skills away from school through a fun, rewarding program like SRC. The ability to directly engage with young people is also an invaluable opportunity to show them everything their community library has to offer."

In addition to targeted engagement, the Youth Services team thoughtfully selects program prizes such as Amazon, Cinemark, and Dutch Bros. Coffee gift cards. Participants can also earn free books from a selection curated for each age range. The YARI award additionally recognized CPL's creativity within a limited budget; staff use donations from the Friends of the Carrollton Public Library, as well as from local businesses and restaurants, for the prizes to encourage community support and ensure the SRC provides great value to families.

"It gives me so much joy and pride to see staff's achievements recognized through the YARI award," Rachel Young, Carrollton Public Library Interim Director, said. "Brittnee and her team devote year-round effort to ensure each Summer Reading Challenge offers something meaningful and engaging for our patrons, and because of their dedication, Summer Reading is one of my favorite times of year in Carrollton."

The Texas Library Association is the largest state library association in the U.S., committed to embracing, uniting, and amplifying voices of the library community through advocacy and education to ensure library excellence for all Texans. The association provides opportunities for professional development and collaboration between libraries across the state. The YARI Award is given only to members of TLA's Young Adult Round Table and includes a commemorative plaque, a $500 honorarium for the winner's library, and a dedicated TLA Annual Conference session to present the winning program to the Texas library community.

For more information about CPL, including how to register for this year's Summer Reading Challenge starting May 1, visit cityofcarrollton.com/library.

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