President Barack Obama nominates Carla Hayden (1952-) to be the 14th leader of the country’s oldest federal institution and the largest library in the world, the Library of Congress. Ms. Hayden immediately has 140 letters of support. She is the first professional librarian, woman and African American to hold the prestigious post.
President Obama posts her impressive resume. “Hayden has devoted her career to modernizing libraries so that everyone can participate in today’s digital culture.”
She begins her career at the Chicago Public Library telling stories to children with autism. After holding several positions in Chicago and Pittsburgh, she is appointed the director of Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Free Library in 1993, becoming the first African American to hold the post.
