The Earle A. Rainwater Memorial Library in Childersburg was one of six public and school library programs across the nation chosen by the American Library Association as models of excellence in after school programming for young adults.
The Rainwater Library provided a work-study program in the library to show teenagers they can overcome adversities through educational activities. These activities included fiction and non-fiction book discussions presented in partnership with the Childersburg Housing Authority. The programs were selected from 30 entries submitted to ALA and the Young Adult Library Serives Association, a division of the ALA, as part of a grant project funded by the Margaret A. Edwards Trust with support from Heckman Bindery Inc.
Each winning library will send a representative to Chicago to the ALA annual conference and will be recognized at the YALSA awards luncheon July 8, 2000. Sarah Ann Long, president of YALSA, will present a plaque to each winning program during Teen Read Week, October 15-21, 2000.