In 2015, a group of librarians asked then President Barack Obama to appoint a “Librarian of Progress”  for the open job of Librarian of Congress. We asked, and he listened: the appointment of Dr. Carla Hayden, then Director of the Baltimore Public Library, signalled a turning point in American libraries, a vision for the future based in equity, uplift, and a steadfast commitment to the Library’s mission to preserve and provide access to a rich, diverse and enduring source of knowledge to inform, inspire and engage both Congress and the American people in their intellectual and creative endeavors. 

Dr. Carla Hayden’s appointment was approved by Congress in 2016, and she served as Librarian of Congress until Thursday, May 8, 2025, when she was fired in a two-sentence email by a low-level Trump administration staff member after a smear campaign by the group American Accountability Foundation, which celebrated Dr. Hayden’s firing with a series of social media posts calling her “[w]oke & radical,” “anti-Trump,” and claiming that she “promotes trans-ing kids.” The AAF also took aim at Shira Perlmutter, Register of Copyrights, whom the President has attempted to dismiss even though he has no power over that office. 

Libraries actively work to inform the public by providing accurate information. They collect, preserve, and share information in the interest of bettering society. In her time at the Library, Dr. Hayden engaged deeply in the ethics of information access. She has invested in digitization to bring more of the Library’s collections to more people. Her Of the People project, established with funds from the Mellon Foundation, was designed specifically to create “new opportunities for more Americans to engage with the Library of Congress and to add their perspectives to the Library’s collections.” By inviting new scholars to the library, creating internship opportunities for new and underrepresented voices, and expanding the scope and public access of the Library’s collections, Dr. Hayden made the largest library in the world an institution representative of all the American people. And, of course, she invited Lizzo to the Library, bringing joy, needed diversity, and pop culture through a performance on James Madison’s crystal flute.

In a prescient interview with Ms. Magazine in 2003, Dr. Hayden noted that libraries are a cornerstone of democracy. “People tend to take that for granted,” she continued, “and they don’t realize what is at stake when that is put at risk.”

In her decades of library work Dr. Hayden has been integral to preserving the past, shining light on it, and paving the way for a more expansive and inclusive future for the people of this country. Her callous firing by the current administration makes it all too clear what is at stake when libraries are under attack. We celebrate Dr. Hayden’s work and we condemn those who would use it to their political ends. We stand with Library of Congress staff in recognizing principal deputy librarian Robert Newlen as Acting Librarian of Congress, understanding that Newlen’s position is a difficult one.

The Library of Congress belongs to us all. It is the guardian and promoter of open access to American culture and heritage. Firing Dr. Hayden does a disservice to libraries, to Congress, to librarianship, and most of all, to the American people.