Children's author Jon Scieszka appointed first National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature

Jon Scieszka, author of The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales and the Time Warp Trio series, will get the imprimatur of the Library of Congress today, January 3, 2008, as the first National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.

“We think it’s very important to have an evangelist for reading,” said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. The library’s Center for the Book has teamed up with the Children’s Book Council, a publishing industry trade association, to create the national ambassador program.

The appointment comes at a time when declines in Americans’ reading proficiency and time spent reading have been widely noted—most recently in “To Read or Not to Read,” a report issued by the National Endowment for the Arts. For many reasons, including economic competitiveness, it is “a matter of crucial national importance” that young people read, Billington said. Read more in The Washington Post.