National Ambassador for Young People's Literature

Thanks to child_lit for this:

CBC and Library of Congress Create National Ambassador
The Children's Book Council, in concert with the Library of Congress,
has unveiled plans to create a government-recognized post dedicated to
supporting and promoting children's literature. The new National
Ambassador for Young People's Literature will be announced at Book
Expo this weekend. Modeled after the U.K.'s Children's Laureate, a
post established in 1999, the American equivalent will, according to
CBC executive director Robin Adelson, choose a platform tied to
"literacy, education or related issues" and travel throughout the
country to attend speaking engagements and other events.

Unlike the Children's Poet Laureate, a position established last year
by the Poetry Foundation, the national ambassador will be a Library of
Congress position, therefore, as Adelson explained, a "nationally
ordained" post.

Ambassadors, who will serve two-year terms, will be selected in a
process overseen by John Cole, director of the Center for the Book at
the Library of Congress. A committee, which has yet to be created,
will select ambassadors; members will include Adelson, Cole and, as
Adelson called them, "a number of knowledgeable people representing
different interested parties," including teachers, librarians,
booksellers, authors and book critics. The inaugural ambassador, who
Adelson said will be selected during the next few months, will be
announced in January at a press event at the Library of Congress, with
the Librarian of Congress making the official appointment.

The goal for the position, which will be given to renowned children's
illustrators and authors of both fiction and nonfiction, is twofold,
Adelson said. First, it's to "bestow an honor to someone who has
contributed greatly to children's books." The other hope, she added,
is that the ambassador will be able to "spread the word and raise
awareness" about the importance of reading and children's literature
at large.

To promote the position, the CBC has retained a publicist and will
focus its attention on publicizing the ambassador starting next
January. —Rachel Deahl

UPDATE: from CCBC_net

The Library of Congress announced today that, through its Center for the Book, it will create the post of National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. Appointed for a two-year term by the Librarian of Congress, the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature will speak to the importance of fiction and non-fiction books in children's lives. Selected for extraordinary contributions to the world of books for young people, the National Ambassador will encourage the appreciation of young people's literature throughout the United States through both personal and media appearances.

“The Ambassador will be an award-winning author or illustrator whose position will acknowledge­at the national level­the importance of exceptional authors and illustrators in creating the readers of tomorrow,” said James H. Billington, the Librarian of Congress.
The National Ambassador program is a joint initiative of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and the Children's Book Council (CBC). The appointment of the first National Ambassador for Young People's Literature will be announced in January 2008.

“We are thrilled. The National Ambassador for Young People's Literature will honor and promote the essential role young people's literature plays in every aspect of our society,” said Simon Boughton, Chair of the CBC Board of Directors and Executive Vice President & Publisher of Roaring Brook Press.

The National Ambassador for Young People's Literature will travel and speak extensively during the two-year term, participating in book and reading promotion events throughout the United States. While each term will bring new events in different areas of the country, the National Ambassador will speak in Washington, DC each fall at the National Book Festival and in New York City each spring during Children's Book Week.

The National Ambassador will choose a platform on which the two-year term will focus. This platform will emphasize literacy, education, and related issues concerning books and young people. In addition to regular speaking engagements, the National Ambassador will work with national media outlets to promote this platform to an even wider audience.

The National Ambassador for Young People's Literature position is patterned after the Children's Laureate in the United Kingdom. The Center for the Book and the Children's Book Council will administer the project jointly, including naming the Selection Committee, overseeing the selection process, and organizing the National Ambassador's travel schedule.

The Selection Committee will consider all nationally-prominent creators of fiction and non-fiction books for children and young adults in the United States. Selection criteria will include, but will not be limited to, level of national prominence and popularity with young people, as well as the candidate's known enthusiasm for specific issues in children's and/or young adult literature.

Financial support for the National Ambassador program is provided by Cheerios(r) cereal, which has been getting books into children's hands and encouraging families to read together through its Spoonfuls of Stories(r) program. Over the past 5 years, Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories has distributed more than 25 million books free inside boxes of Cheerios cereal, and donated more than $2 million to First Book(r), an international children's literacy organization. Additional financial support for this program is provided by HarperCollins Children's Books, Penguin Young Readers Group, Random House Children's Books, Holiday House, Inc., National Geographic Children's Books, Houghton Mifflin Company, Harcourt Children's Books and Candlewick Press. The CBC, through its associated 501(c)(3) entity, the CBC Foundation, is seeking additional financial support for the National Ambassador program from the private sector and encourages those interested in supporting this exciting program to contact CBC and CBC Foundation Executive Director, Robin Adelson at 212-966-1990 or Robin.Adelson@cbcbbooks.org .

How cool is this? Fuse has some more info.
Imagine the inaugural speech: "Friends, Muggles, pigeons ... "