LeVar Burton has been named the American Booksellers Association's Indie Bookstore Ambassador for 2025-2026. From Indies First Day/Small Business Saturday on November 29 to Independent Bookstore Day on April 25, 2026, Burton will serve as a champion for independent bookstores. Previous ambassadors include Celeste Ng, Amanda Gorman, and Trevor Noah.
Burton is an actor, director, producer, and podcaster whose work includes Roots, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Reading Rainbow. He is the recipient of seven NAACP Awards, a Peabody, a Grammy, and 15 Emmys, including a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Inaugural Children's & Family Emmys. He is also a lifelong literacy advocate and has dedicated decades to encouraging children to read.
In 2023, Burton premiered his first documentary, The Right to Read, a film that considers the literacy crisis in the U.S. as a civil rights issue. The Right to Read was an official selection at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and SXSW EDU.
He is also the award-winning author of Aftermath, The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm, and A Kids Book About Imagination. He launched his first book club with Fable, a digital book club community, and partnered with Masterclass to share the power of storytelling.
His production company, LeVar Burton Entertainment (LBE), develops film, television, podcasting, and publishing projects with the mission to share stories that foster empathy, champion diversity, and build community. The LeVar Burton Reads podcast has more than 175 episodes in its catalog, with 25 million downloads. LBE's first Kids & Family podcast, Sound Detectives, made its debut on Stitcher in 2023.
Burton called it "an extraordinary honor to be chosen as ABA's Indie Bookstore Ambassador. From my earliest memories, books carried me beyond the world I knew. They let me explore distant planets, ancient kingdoms, and lives very different from my own. Independent bookstores are where those explorations began. They are sanctuaries of possibility where a single story can change a life. In my forthcoming book, I reflect on discovering and embracing one's authentic self. Bookstores offer that same opportunity to every reader. Step inside, wander the shelves, ask questions, and follow your curiosity. Every book you open is an invitation to imagine, to learn, and to see the world anew. But, you don't have to take my word for it!"