IYL awarded with "Carle Honors" 2026

The International Youth Library Foundation (IYL) is delighted to be honoured with the “Carle Honors” award in 2026 in the category ‘Bridge’.

The ‘Carle Honors’ are annual awards presented by the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art (Amherst, Massachusetts, USA) to recognise individuals and organisations for their creative imagination, commitment and significant influence on picture books, as well as for promoting literature and strengthening children’s reading skills. Established in 2006 in the name of Eric Carle, these awards, which enjoy great international renown, honour pioneers in five categories: Artist, ‘Angel’ (=patron), ‘Bridge’ (educator), Mentor and Inspiration. The honorees are selected by a committee chaired by the American children’s book historian, author and critic Leonard S. Marcus, the founder of the award.

Jury statement: “The International Youth Library (IYL) in Munich, Germany, is the world’s largest library for international children’s and youth literature. Founded in 1949 by Jella Lepman, it has grown to become an internationally recognized literature center. The work of the IYL is guided by the conviction that children’s and young adult books are an essential part of the cultural life of a society and a country, and as such must be preserved, documented, and shared. To bring this mission to life, the IYL runs an annual program of exhibitions, author readings, workshops, panel discussions, and an international literature festival, and offers a fellowship program for foreign researchers that is unique worldwide.”

The award ceremony takes place on 17 September 2026 in New York City, USA.
Previous winners in the ‘Bridge’ category include the Bologna Children’s Book Fair (2018) and Takeshi Matsumoto (2019), founder of the ‘Chihiro Art Museum’ in Japan.