President Obama recently announced his intent to nominate Dr. Carla Hayden, a former president of the American Library Association (ALA) and the current Chief Executive Officer of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Maryland as the 14th Librarian of Congress. Dr. Hayden has a Chicago connection; she served as Deputy Commissioner and Chief Librarian of the Chicago Public Library from 1991 to 1993. Her educational background includes an M.A. and Ph.D. from the Graduate Library School of the University of Chicago.
Commenting on the announcement, ALA President Sari Feldman said:
“The President could not have made a better choice. Hats off to President Obama for nominating Dr. Hayden, a professional librarian uniquely positioned with the leadership and management skills and understanding of digital technology to make the Library of Congress the preeminent national library in the world, highly-valued by and serving all Americans as a treasured resource. We look forward to working closely with her to further librarians’ bedrock principle that all Americans everywhere deserve and must have equitable access to the information that they need to succeed and lead productive lives in the digital age.”
Dr. Carla Hayden