Amanda Gorman & Loren Long

The Library Marketplace Opening Featured Speakers
Date: Wednesday, June 23, 2021 9:00 AM - 9:30 AM CT
Amanda Gorman & Loren Long Image

Amanda Gorman & Loren Long 

Amanda Gorman is the youngest presidential inaugural poet in US history. She is a committed advocate for the environment, racial equality, and gender justice. Gorman's activism and poetry have been featured on The Today Show, PBS Kids, CBS This Morning, and in the New York Times, Vogue, Essence, and O, The Oprah Magazine. In 2017, Urban Word named her the first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate of the United States. After graduating cum laude from Harvard University, she now lives in her hometown of Los Angeles. The special edition of her inaugural poem, The Hill We Climb was published in March 2021 and debuted at #1 on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestsellers list.

Her debut picture book, Change Sings will be available in September 2021. In the stirring and much-anticipated book, written by Amanda Gorman and illustrated by Loren Long, anything is possible when our voices join together. As a young girl leads a cast of characters on a musical journey, they learn that they have the power to make changes—big or small—in the world, in their communities, and in most importantly, in themselves. 

I can hear change humming
In its loudest, proudest song.
I don’t fear change coming,
And so I sing along
.”
 
With lyrical text and rhythmic illustrations that build to a dazzling crescendo, Change Sings is a triumphant call to action for everyone to use their abilities to make a difference. Visit theamandagorman.com.

 

Loren Long is the author and illustrator of the New York Times bestselling Otis series, which is in development as an animated television series. He's also the illustrator of the #1 New York Times bestsellers Of Thee I Sing by Barack Obama, Love by Matt de la Pena, and The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper. He recently illustrated a modern edition of the Clement C. Moore classic, The Night Before Christmas. He lives near Cincinnati with his wife and rescue hound, Charlie.


Dr. Carla Hayden Image

This session will be moderated by Dr. Carla Hayden.

Carla Hayden was sworn in as the 14th Librarian of Congress in September 2016. She is the first woman and the first African American to lead the national library. She was nominated to the position by President Barack Obama in February 2016 and her nomination was confirmed by the U.S. Senate, July 2016.

 

Sponsor:

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Change Sings Book Cover Image