The United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY) is a national section of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) committed to bringing books and children together.
History
The United States National Section of the International Board on Books for Young People, USBBY, was established in the early 1960s by the American Library Association (ALA) and the Children's Book Council (CBC). It was incorporated as “Friends of IBBY” in 1979 and was headquartered at the Children's Book Council in New York City at that time. The name was changed soon thereafter, and USBBY was hosted by theInternational Reading Association (IRA), now the International Literacy Association (ILA) in Newark, Delaware from 1985 until the end of 2008. From 2009 the USBBY Secretariat has been located at the Center for Teaching through Children's Books in Skokie, Illinois.
USBBY is chartered as a non-profit corporation serving to promote and develop excellence in books for children and young people. The structure of USBBY consists of a board of directors, with a president, president-elect, past president, treasurer, secretary, and 12 directors, plus the executive director. Members include librarians, teachers, university professors, authors, illustrators, publishers, and students. Membership categories range from individual, to organizational, and patron membership (currently the American Library Association, Children's Book Council, International Literacy Association, (then the International Reading Association) and National Council of Teachers of English).
USBBY's regular activities include: a biannual USBBY Newsletter, a biennial regional conference, and sessions at ALA, IRA, and NCTE annual conferences and the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting. USBBY committees recommend US nominees for the Hans Christian Andersen Award, the IBBY-Asahi Reading Promotion Award, and Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities, as well as for USBBY's own Bridge to Understanding Award that is presented annually.
Organization
USBBY is governed by a board of directors that includes four elected and eight appointed board members who represent the USBBY membership as well as USBBY's patron organizations—the Children's Book Council, the American Library Association, the International Reading Association, and the National Council of Teachers of English. USBBY is managed by its board of directors, the USBBY general secretary, and a variety of member committees. The executive director (who is an ex officio non-voting member of the board) is the administrative officer of the organization.
The USBBY board of directors meets three times annually. The organization also convenes an annual meeting for its members, which is held either at the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Annual Convention, or at the biennial IBBY Regional Conference. Specifics on the board's activities is available via the USBBY Manual online.