Carla Diane Hayden (born August 10,1952)[1][2] is an American librarian who is serving as the 14th librarian of Congress.[3][4] Hayden is both the first African American and the first woman to hold this post.[5][6][7][8] Appointed in 2016,she is the first professional librarian to hold the post since 1974.[9]
Hayden was born in Tallahassee,Florida,to Bruce Kennard Hayden Jr.,at that time director of the String Department at Florida A&M University,and Colleen Hayden (néeDowling),a social worker.[2][16] Her parents met while attending Millikin University in Decatur,Illinois.[2] Hayden grew up in New York City. When she was 10 years old,her parents divorced and she moved with her mother to Chicago.[2][17] She had a younger half-brother from her father's second marriage,Bruce Kennard Hayden,III,who died in 1992.[18]
Hayden's mother's side of the family comes from Helena,Arkansas. Her father's maternal side of the family,who eventually settled in Du Quoin,Illinois,had been enslaved,which is chronicled in the book,It's Good to Be Black,by Ruby Berkley Goodwin.[2][19]
Dr. Hayden (left) poses with actress Lynda Carter.
Hayden began her library career at the Chicago Public Library telling stories to children with autism.[8] From 1973 to 1979,she worked as an associate/children's librarian at the Whitney Young branch. From 1979 to 1982,she served as the young adult services coordinator. From 1982 to 1987,Hayden worked as a library services coordinator at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry.[22]
Hayden then moved back to Chicago and became Deputy Commissioner and Chief Librarian of the Chicago Public Library,posts she held from 1991 to 1993.[22] During her time working at the Chicago Public Library,Hayden became acquainted with Michelle Obama and Barack Obama.[23]
Prior to and during her ALA presidency,Hayden played a role in influencing the creation of the Spectrum Scholarship Program,which was first developed in 1997 and offers yearly scholarships.[24] This scholarship program seeks to recruit and fund the education of students of color to help them obtain graduate degrees and leadership positions within the field and the ALA.[25]
During her tenure,Hayden oversaw the first new branch opening in 35 years along with the renovation of the co-operative's central branch. During the 2015 Baltimore protests,Hayden kept Baltimore's libraries open,an act for which she received praise.[28][29] When asked to reflect about this period in a 2016 Time interview she stated that since many stores in the community closed,"we knew that [people] would look for that place of refuge and relief and opportunity."[30]
She left the position on August 11,2016,when she was appointed to the Library of Congress.[18]
ALA presidency
As president of the American Library Association (ALA) from 2003 to 2004,Hayden chose the theme "Equity of Access".[31][32][33][34] This included a strong focus on outreach programs.[35] The outreach program she began at the Enoch Pratt Free Library included "an after school center for Baltimore teens offering homework assistance and college and career counseling." Because of this,Hayden received Library Journal's Librarian of the Year Award in 1995. She is the first African American to have received this award.[36]
She was also publicly opposed to the Patriot Act,voicing concerns about library users' privacy.[2][37] She especially objected to the special permissions contained in Section 215 of that law,which gave the Department of Justice and the FBI the power to access library user records. Hayden debated publicly with then-Attorney GeneralJohn Ashcroft over the language of the law.[38] Ashcroft stated that the ALA had been "misled into opposing provisions of the act that make it easier for FBI agents to fish through library records."[39] Hayden responded that the ALA was "deeply concerned that the Attorney General would be so openly contemptuous" (to the library community),while also pointing out that librarians had been monitored and been under FBI surveillance as far back as the McCarthy Era. Hayden asserted that Ashcroft should release information as to the number of libraries that had been visited under the provisions of Section 215.[14] She has stated that the concern stemmed from making sure that a balance existed "between security and personal freedoms."[30]
As a result of this advocacy,she was named Ms. Woman of the Year in 2003.[40]
On July 13,2016,she was confirmed as Librarian of Congress by a 74–18 vote in the United States Senate.[28] Hayden was sworn in by Chief Justice of the United StatesJohn Roberts on September 14,2016.[49][50] Hayden is first woman and the first African American to hold the position.[51] She is also a librarian by profession,whereas many past librarians of Congress have been scholars and historians.[52]
As librarian of Congress,Hayden said she hopes to continue "the movement to open the treasure chest that is the Library of Congress,"[53] and that much of her early effort would focus on building and retaining staff.[54] In the first five years,she would also focus on making sure that at least half of the library's 162 million items were digitized,especially rare collections.[20][55]
Hayden aspired to modernize access to the institution. In a press release by the ALA Washington Office,then-ALA president Julie Todaro said,"I believe that through her visionary leadership the Library of Congress will soon mirror society's rapidly changing information environment,while successfully preserving the cultural record of the United States."[9] Hayden spoke specifically of her desire to reach people in rural areas and people with visual disabilities. Another one of her main goals was to improve the infrastructure and technological capacity of the Library of Congress.[22]
In January 2017,Hayden hosted 4-year-old Daliyah Marie Arana as Librarian of Congress for the day.[56] In October 2017,she hosted 8-year-old Adam Coffey as Librarian of Congress for the day.[57]
Hayden, Carla D. (1994). "New approaches to black recruitment". In Josey, Elonnie Junius (ed.). The Black Librarian in America Revisited. Metuchen: Scarecrow Press. pp.55–64. ISBN978-0-8108-2830-8. OCLC29519257.
Hayden, Carla (1992). "A New Way of Thinking about Librarians". In Schuman, Patricia Glass; Crist, Margo; Curry, Elizabeth (eds.). Your Right to Know: Librarians Make It Happen: Conference Within a Conference Background Papers. Chicago: American Library Association. pp.34–37. OCLC30037844. – ALA Annual Conference, Sunday, June 28, 1992, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Selected articles
Hayden, Carla D. (1985). "Museum of Science and Industry Library". Science & Technology Libraries. 6 (1–2): 47–54. doi:10.1300/J122v06n01_06.
Hayden, Carla D. (1986). "Literature for and about black adolescents". Illinois Libraries. 68: 372–374.
Hayden, Carla D. (1989). "Multicultural Literature and Library Services for Children: A Continuing Challenge for the New Century". 55th IFLA Council and General Conference Paris, France 19-26 August 1989. The Hague (Netherlands): IFLA General Conference. pp.2–4. OCLC438720810.
Hayden, C. D. (1991). Children and Computer Technology in American Libraries. Books by African-American authors and illustrators for children and young adults, 14.
Hayden, C. D. (2003). ALA reaffirms core values, commitment to members. Newsletter On Intellectual Freedom, 52(6), 219.
Hayden, C. D. (2003). Equity of Access—the Time Is Now. American Libraries, 34(7), 5.
Hayden, C. D. (2003). ALA President's Message: Something for Everyone@ Your Library. American Libraries, 5–5.
Hayden, C. D. (2003). ALA President's Message: What Are Libraries For?. American Libraries, 5–5.
↑ Goodwin, Ruby Berkley (2013). It's Good to Be Black (60th anniversaryed.). Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press. ISBN978-0-8093-3122-2. OCLC900954690.
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