Cleaver named Reading Agency chair

Liz Cleaver, controller of BBC Learning, is to be the new chair of The Reading Agency, taking over from Martin Molloy in March 2009. Molloy will now become president of the organisation.

Founded in 2002, the Reading Agency is an independent charity working to inspire more people to read more. It is  funded by the Arts Council.

Miranda McKearney, director of The Reading Agency, paid tribute to the outgoing chair: "Martin led the transition board overseeing the merger of the agencies forming  The Reading Agency, and went on steer us through six years of dynamic growth. He has  been a superb chair – steady, strategic and insightful, and I am so pleased he has agreed to become our first president. He has helped our experimental work with libraries take root. For instance the Summer Reading Challenge now involves 690,000  children a year.”