We're pleased to be able to announce that Sue Wilkinson MBE has been appointed as our new Chief Executive. She will take up her post in January 2014, succeeding Founder Director Miranda McKearney OBE.

Chair of the Board, Liz Cleaver says: "We were heartened by the fantastic response to the advertisement and the high calibre of entrants, but Sue was the outstanding candidate. She is a proven leader with a passion for reading in all its forms, who has the experience and energy to lead The Reading Agency into the future."

Sue Wilkinson MBE is currently the Director of UK Academic and Government Alliances at Elsevier. She has been a freelance Learning and Development Consultant and before that held a number of prominent roles within the arts and education. Sue was formerly Director of Policy at the MLA where she created the ground breaking quality and impact framework, Inspiring Learning for All, which is now used in museums, archives and libraries all over the world. While at MLA she worked with public libraries and their partners to deliver a wide range of programmes, and with local museums to establish, and secure funding for, Renaissance in the Regions programme.

With this track record of impact on learning outcomes, Sue is well placed to take the The Reading Agency to the next level and to reach our target of 10 million people over the next five years.

Embracing new opportunities

Sue Wilkinson says: "The Reading Agency has been enormously successful in working with partners to pioneer new ways to engage people with reading. I look forward to consolidating and building on these partnerships as well as embracing the exciting new opportunities made possible by developing technologies. I firmly believe that reading does change lives and am proud to be championing the cause of reading, in all its forms, as the new CEO of The Reading Agency."

Director of Literature for the Arts Council Antonia Byatt says: "As key funders of The Reading Agency, The Arts Council recognises the important work the charity does in championing reading for pleasure and giving everyone an equal chance to become a reader. It is paramount that such a charity has a skilled and ambitious leader at the helm, and I am confident that The Reading Agency has found one in Sue Wilkinson"

Tony Durcan OBE, Society of Chief Librarians Executive Committee and The Reading Agency Trustee, says: "Thanks to our work and partnership with The Reading Agency, the Society of Chief Librarians has been able to really increase the quality and number of exciting and meaningful reading programmes across the public library network. I feel extremely confident that Sue Wilkinson will build on the exemplary work of Miranda McKearney, and lead The Reading Agency towards a bright future."