The National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance

Katherine Paterson

United States National Ambassador for Young People's Literature

The National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance congratulates our own Katherine Paterson, a Vice-President of the NCBLA Board of Directors, on becoming the new United States National Ambassador for Young People's Literature!

"In our family, books have created a shattering and gracious encounter of illumination and healing. It was my love of stories that led me to writing them. I didn't know when I started if I had any talent or ability. I only knew that I had been summoned by books and wanted not only to read them but to take part in their creation." – Katherine Paterson

Quick Links:

• Official Library of Congress United States National Ambassador for Young People's Literature
   Press Release
• Summoned by Books: An NCBLA Interview with Katherine Paterson, United States National    Ambassador for Young People's Literature and Vice-President of The National Children’s
   Book and Literacy Alliance
•NCBLA Katherine Paterson Bio
•United States National Ambassador for Young People's Literature Information
•The Center for the Book at the Library of Congress
• The Children’s Book Council
• The Exquisite Corpse Adventure
   Katherine Paterson is a contributor to this NCBLA/Library of Congress reading outreach project.
• Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out
   Katherine Paterson is a contributor to this NCBLA historical literacy project.

Welcome! to the website for the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance. We are a not-for-profit literacy organization created in 1997 by award-winning children's book authors and illustrators. The NCBLA’s main goal is to make issues related to young people's literacy, literature, and libraries an ongoing priority on our national agenda. We act as a freelance, nonpartisan advocate, creating and developing special projects and events that promote literacy, literature, libraries, and the arts; educating the public about practical literacy and education solutions; and ensuring young people's right to read.

We have created this site for you, so that you can help the young people you care about become lifelong readers, creative and critical thinkers, and responsible citizens, for we believe that literacy is intrinsic to a healthy democracy. Within our site you'll find a wide variety of information — author interviews and book recommendations; information on censorship and young people's reading rights; literacy and literature resources; links to other literacy organizations and book lists — as well as information for the press and media. We have suggestions for getting young people excited about books and reading. We offer ideas to help kids become better writers, better critical and creative thinkers. We will also be throwing out ideas that we hope will make us all think more about kids, literature, art, education, and our nation’s future. And because we want all of our young people to have free and fair access to information and story in both electronic and traditional formats, we offer a menu of advocacy ideas so that whatever your profession or personal situation, you too, can become a literacy and library activist.

Take your time, browse through the pages, enjoy. This site is meant to be read. If you have questions, concerns, or need specific information, let us know. We are also very interested in hearing your ideas, suggestions, and creative solutions.

We hope you enjoy our site. We regret only that you'll be missing the experience of a book, solid, warm, and satisfying in your hands — a real book that you can read and digest at your own pace, in your own space, lovely to the touch, easily opened, and instantly accessed. Sadly, until technology catches up with books, you'll have to imagine the sibilant whisper of a turning page and the rich — and non-glaring — elegance of ink on paper. In the meantime, greetings from the NCBLA, and enjoy your visit.

© 2005 NCBLA