BALTIMORE — 225 years, 14 leaders from James to Daniel and four different Johns. But there's one name that stands boldly against the rest, Carla Hayden.
"To become the Librarian of Congress was really humbling because, as a person of color, people who looked like me were forbidden by law to learn to read. Also, to be a woman in a profession that's been called a feminized profession, was also something. It was the culmination of seeing the hopes and dreams of so many people that came before me,” said Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress.
Hayden oversees the world’s largest library, home to over 173 million items including books, photographs, maps, and sheet music. The Library of Congress, founded in 1800, is the oldest federal cultural institution.
“The moments that take your breath away are when you see people actually using the library,” said Hayden.
Those who spot Hayden walking through the halls of this sprawling building, know her as the 14th Librarian of Congress. However, Baltimore remembers her by a different name: Director of the Enoch Pratt Free Library.
"I still live in Baltimore. Baltimore is home, where everybody knows your name,” said Hayden.
Every day, she makes the commute from Baltimore to D.C.
This bustling children’s section of the Pratt Library is just a chapter of the transformative work she was able to accomplish in her 23 years as director there.
"When I first arrived in Baltimore, I heard so many Pratt Library stories. People would come up to me from all walks of life and say, 'You're the new library lady,'" said Hayden.
From 1995 to 2018, she helped expand internet access and opened the library's after-school center for teens.
"That really started us thinking about what will young people 30 years from now say to a new Pratt Library director about what it meant to them,” said Hayden.
Public libraries have long been called opportunity centers—a lifeline in the community. In 2015, following the death of Freddie Gray, riots erupted in the city, businesses shuttered. But Hayden kept the library doors open.
"It was the only thing that was open at that time for anyone to get on the computers. And one young man said, 'Thank you so much. Because I need to fill out a job application online.' And then he came back a couple of days later and said he had an interview. So that's why we said, all communities need a library, especially when there's a crisis,” said Hayden.
A safe haven is what Hayden calls it—an institution she has fought strongly to protect as the former president of the American Library Association, where she challenged the government’s attempt to gain access to library records without justification. In her many roles, Hayden has firmly taken a stand to protect readers' rights at a time when controversy over banning certain pieces of literature has taken center stage.
"We're in another era of attempts to limit what people can access in books, especially books for young people. And so when we think about the phrase 'free people read freely,' that's really what we're talking about. Everyone has the right to make decisions for their own young people, but not for all young people,” said Hayden.
She recalls the moments as a young girl when she recognized the gravity the library holds.
"I was a little girl with pigtails in Jamaica, Queens, and my favorite place was the little storefront library across from the elementary school. And one day I went in and someone handed me this book called Bright April, and it was about a little girl who was brown, who had pigtails, who was a brownie. And I just loved it because it was the first time I saw myself in a book,” said Hayden.
Bright April still sits on the shelves of Enoch Pratt Free Library.
"I knew that the Enoch Pratt Free Library was legendary in terms of serving young people. They were the model for libraries all over the country,” said Hayden.
From Baltimore to D.C., one of her proudest moments has been digitizing some of the items at the Library of Congress so that people who may not be able to make it in person can still access works online.
"This treasure chest is being opened and available to everyone. The papers of the NAACP and the legal defense fund hadn’t been digitized. It had the papers of Hazel Scott, the piano player extraordinaire, that hadn’t been lifted up. So that people anywhere in the world could look and see Rosa Parks' peanut butter pancake recipe in her own hand,” said Hayden.
What also gives Hayden chills is walking through the Treasures Gallery, giving people a window into the Library’s collections, from the Blackwell Family Tree to the contents of Abraham Lincoln’s pockets the day he was assassinated.
“I knew that was something that was dear to my heart, to introduce so many more people to something that has been here all along since 1800,” said Hayden.
