Baltimore Leader Named Librarian of Congress, Marking Two Historic Firsts

Congrats Carla Hayden, our newest Librarian of Congress! Her confirmation is certainly one for the history books.https://t.co/5T8rvSRp9e
— President Obama (@POTUS) July 14, 2016

Carla Hayden, the head of Baltimore’s public library system, was confirmed Wednesday as the first woman and first African American to be the 14th Librarian of Congress.

Hayden has been the chief executive officer of Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Free Library since 1993, one of the nation’s oldest public library systems.

She will assume her new role in the near future; the date is still being determined, according to a statement from the Library of Congress.

"I will be honored to build on the legacy and accomplishments of my predecessors in this position, to be part of a continuing movement to open the treasure chest that is the Library of Congress even further and to make it a place that can be found and used by everyone," Hayden said. She is credited with helping to make the Enoch Pratt Free Library increasingly accessible to the public through digitization of resources and outreach programs.

"Dr. Carla Hayden is an American treasure," Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Wednesday upon learning the news. She mentioned Hayden's "foresight, institutional knowledge and compassion for communities" as key assets, adding: "The citizens of Baltimore couldn't be more proud of her and the confirmation of her appointment."

The Library of Congress is one of the nation’s oldest federal institutions and boasts the world’s largest library collection. It is responsible for providing Congress with research, setting copyright standards and leading various literary initiatives.

Hayden will succeed James Billington, who retired from the position of Librarian of Congress in September after 28 years. In the interim, David S. Mao has been serving as the acting librarian-in-chief.

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Related:

• Obama Nominates Head of Baltimore Library for Librarian of Congress
• First Black Woman Nominated for Librarian of Congress

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Born in Tallahassee, Fla., Hayden grew up in Chicago and is a graduate of Roosevelt University. She received her master’s degree and doctorate in library science from the University of Chicago.

She began her career with the Chicago Public Library system as a young adult services coordinator, children’s librarian and library associate from 1973 to 1987.

Obama said in a statement that he has known Hayden “since her days working at the Chicago Public Library.”

Hayden was nominated by Obama to be a member of the National Museum and Library Services Board in January 2010 and was confirmed by the Senate in June 2010.

She also was the American Library Association’s president in 2003 and 2004. In that position, she voiced her displeasure with the portions of the Patriot Act allowing easier federal surveillance of library records.

“Many Americans are not willing to concede their most basic civil rights and liberties to those in positions of power who simply ask us to trust them,” Hayden said in August 2003.

Then-Attorney General John Ashcroft declared that “the hysteria is ridiculous.”

But he eventually apologized in a telephone call to Hayden and agreed to make public how the government was using library records.

Once she is sworn in, Hayden will be the first Librarian of Congress to take office in the 21st century.

With reporting by Auburn Mann, Alana Pedalino and Troy Jefferson of Capital News Service.

Photo Credit: Enoch Pratt Free Library.