Presidential inaugural poet Amanda Gorman to open The Library Marketplace: Exhibits, Stages, and Resources’ special day of exhibits at the 2021 ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition

CHICAGO – The American Library Association today announced that presidential inaugural poet Amanda Gorman and illustrator Loren Long will be The Library Marketplace opening featured speakers at the 2021 ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition, June 23-29. Gorman will officially open the June 23, full day’s schedule of The Library Marketplace: Exhibits, Stages, and Resources sessions and activities.

Included are the Presentation Stages, which will assemble notable and genre-specific keynotes with celebrity speakers and authors Danny Trejo and Gabrielle Union; meteorologist and author Dylan Dreyer; plus leading authors Jayne Allen, Candacy Taylor, Kaia Alderson, Yvon Roy, Joseph Bruchac, Vashti Harrison, Pilar Winter Hill, and David Atherton and illustrator Rachel Stubbs. See the full list of ALA Annual Conference featured speakers. In total, there will be more than 150 sessions from leading authors.

Other Library Marketplace highlights include as many as 300 exhibitors offering innovative resources for libraries; multimedia resources in the Bonus Showcases; publisher-led Spotlight sessions on new book titles; networking opportunities, giveaways, and more. 

Registration for the conference is now open.

ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition attendees will have access to more than 200 educational sessions in the areas of Library Services, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Leadership, Teaching & Learning, Technology, Library Workplace, and more.  Additionally, many of the News You Can Use series; interactive Discussion Groups; and President and Chair Programs provide an excellent opportunity for attendees to share thoughts amongst their peers.

Registrants are able to log-in to the Program Scheduler and “favorite” sessions, adding them to their conference calendar. The Scheduler should be regularly checked as it is consistently updated with new sessions and activities.

Stay in touch and get updates through the 2021 ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition (Virtual) website alaannual.org and follow the hashtag #alaac21 and social media: Instagram, ALA Twitter, and ALA Facebook.