first, a discussion titled reading is not an option with walter dean myers, national ambassador for young people's literature. and director of the library of congress center for the book. this year's international summit was hosted by the library of congress and washington d.c. >> earlier this year walter dean myers was named as the third national ambassador for and people's literature this is a non-profit arm, every child a reader. the notion of the national ambassador would be someone who traveled the country on behalf of young people's literature promoting it and also expanding the audience for reading in every way that we can think of. my proper today you already have . on the table in the back there is a bookmark which has walters photo and also a brief explanation of the national ambassador program. it lasts for two years. walter is midway through his 2-year term speaking on behalf of reading. today we're going to learn a little bit about his experience, but i would like to start by asking him how he chose his particular theme for his activity, which is reading is not optional. walt

walter dean myers a round of applause. [applause] >> thank you. >> we continue our coverage of the international summit of the book with the panel tell the role of cultural institutions and foster in the future of the book. this is about 50 minutes. >> we are coming to the second session of our day which would be a panel discussion on the role of cultural ostentations and posturing and the future of the book. i will turn to the panel's moderator to introduce the panelists once we are all on stage. sir harold is a distinguished feature in publishing in journalism. i'm sure you've heard of him. president and publisher of random house and the trade group, the founding editor, mass travel magazine, editorial director of an vice-president of u.s. news and world report and the daily news, atlantic monthly and company. currently editor at large for reuters. you may know him, as i do, as the author of the book the american century. one of the world's most distinguished journalists, and as we see, the highest awards for his lifetim

let's give walter dean myers a round of applause. [applause] we continue our coverage of the international summit of the book with a panel titled "the role of cultural institutions in fostering the future of the book." this is about 50 minutes. [applause] >> now we are coming to the second session of our day. it will be a panel discussion on the role of cultural institutions in the role of fostering the book. i will turn to our moderator to introduce the panelists once we are all on stage. a distinguished figure in publishing and journalism and i'm sure you've heard of them. president publisher random house trade group, the founding editor of mass traveler magazine, editorial director of the vice president of "u.s. news and world report" for the daily news, "atlantic monthly". currently he is editor-at-large for writers and you may know him as i do, as the author of the book, the american century. sir harold is one one of the wos most distinguished journalist and has received the highest awards for his lifetime achievement. please we