David Delmar Sentíes to keynote and Dr. Claudette McLinn to present call-to-action at the 25th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Observance and Sunrise Celebration

CHICAGO – Author and Tech Bootcamp Founder David Delmar Sentíes will deliver the keynote address at the 25th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Observance and Sunrise Celebration during the American Library Association’s Library Learning Experience (LLX) in Baltimore. The 2024 Celebration will be held from 6:30-8:00 a.m. on Sunday, January 21 in the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor, Key Ballroom 7-12.

David Delmar Sentíes is the author of "What We Build with Power: The Fight for Economic Justice in Tech" (Beacon Press, 2023). He is the Founder and former Executive Director of Resilient Coders, a highly competitive, free, and stipended nonprofit coding bootcamp that trains people of color from low-income backgrounds for high-growth careers as software engineers. Resilient Coders was recognized by the White House in 2016, and has been featured in TechCrunch, Fast Company News, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, BostInno, Bay State Banner, NPR, NECN, Xconomy, VentureFizz, Hot 96.9, and other news outlets. David is especially proud of having been recognized by El Planeta as an influential member of Boston’s Latinx community.

Joining Delmar Sentíes is Call-to-Action speaker Dr. Claudette S. McLinn. McLinn is the founder and executive director of the Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature (CSMCL). She is a retired supervisor, library services, nonpublic Schools, for the Los Angeles Unified School District with over 34 years of experience as a teacher, librarian, and administrator in elementary and secondary education. She was the owner of a children's bookstore for over 20 years. She was adjunct professor at California State University, Long Beach where she taught graduate courses in children’s literature and young adult literature with a focus on multicultural literature.

McLinn is committed to EDI (equity, diversity, and inclusion), a commitment that has been at the core of her life’s work. As an active member in the American Library Association (ALA) for over 25 years, she has chaired and served on many ALA committees, task forces, and book award juries, including the Newbery, Coretta Scott King, Pura Belpré, and Caldecott Awards.

While chair of the Coretta Scott King (CSK) Book Award Committee, McLinn also served as chair of the CSK 50th Anniversary Celebration. Dr. McLinn is the recipient of the 2015 BCALA Appreciation Award, 2020 Distinguished Service Award from the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) and the 2023 Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.

The annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Observance and Sunrise Celebration commemorates Dr. King's legacy and recognizes the connection between his life's work and the library world. Featured readings include selected passages from the works of Dr. King. For more information on past Celebrations, please visit https://www.ala.org/conferencesevents/celebrationweeks/mlksunrise

Attendance is open to all attendees of the 2024 Library Learning Experience. For more information, please visit https://2024.alaliblearnx.org/

The 2024 Celebration is made possible through the support of our premier sponsor, OCLC, with additional sponsorship from ALA's Office for Diversity, Literacy and Outreach Services, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Task Force of the ALA Social Responsibilities Round Table, and the Black Caucus of the ALA, Inc. David Delmar Sentíes’ participation is generously provided by Beacon Press.

About the American Library Association
The American Library Association is the foremost national organization providing resources to inspire library and information professionals to transform their communities through essential programs and services. For more than 140 years, the ALA has been the trusted voice of libraries, advocating for the profession and the library’s role in enhancing learning and ensuring access to information for all. For more information, visit ala.org.