Latest news with #CarlaHayden
The Independent
07-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Former Librarian of Congress, fired by Trump, vows to improve public information in new Mellon role
The former Librarian of Congress abruptly fired by President Donald Trump has found a new position with the country's largest philanthropic supporter of the arts. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation exclusively told The Associated Press that Carla Hayden will join the humanities grantmaker Monday as a senior fellow whose duties will include advising on efforts to advance public knowledge through libraries and archives. The year-long post places Hayden back at the center of the very debates over American culture that surrounded her dismissal. The White House ousted Hayden, the first woman and the first African American to hold the title, after she was accused of promoting 'radical' literary material by a conservative advocacy group seeking to squash Trump opposition within the federal government. Hayden acknowledged existing threats to 'the free exchange of ideas' in a statement to the AP. 'For generations, libraries, archives, and cultural institutions have been the guardians of knowledge and the catalysts for human progress,' she said. 'Together, we will work to strengthen the public knowledge ecosystem and ensure that the transformative power of information remains accessible to all.' Mellon's response to government funding cuts Meanwhile, the Mellon Foundation has been working to fill fiscal holes for arts communities reeling from federal cuts. Its $15 million 'emergency' fund aims to offset the $65 million that were supposed to go to the state humanities councils that organize book fairs, heritage festivals, theater productions and other programs fostering cultural engagement. The foundation has previously supported the American Library Association 's efforts to counter book bans, increase scholarships for librarians of color and boost adult literacy. Mellon President Elizabeth Alexander said the foundation is thrilled to welcome Hayden, 'a leader with an unshakable regard for the public good of the American people,' during such a 'crucial time.' Public knowledge institutions are navigating 'historic challenges and transformative advances," according to Mellon, including artificial intelligence, digital technologies, federal funding withdrawals and censorship efforts. Who is the Librarian of Congress and what is the job? The acting librarian is Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who represented Trump during his 2024 criminal trial. Responsibilities range from looking after collections to selecting the country's poet laureate to awarding the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song and the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction. The library also manages the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. Librarians serve 10-year terms, and Hayden's was scheduled to end in 2026. Her tenure included modernizing its reservoir of the nation's books and history. She oversaw new initiatives reaching out to rural and online audiences. Recent campaigns sought to improve accessibility for everyday visitors. And she arranged for Lizzo's 2022 performance where the artist played a crystal flute owned by President James Madison — among the Library's troves of artifacts. Before her confirmation in 2016, Hayden spent more than two decades as CEO of Baltimore's Enoch Pratt Free Library system and was president of the American Library Association from 2003 to 2004. A graduate of Roosevelt University and the University of Chicago, she is a member of the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. ___ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit
Washington Post
07-07-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
Former Librarian of Congress, fired by Trump, vows to improve public information in new Mellon role
NEW YORK — The former Librarian of Congress abruptly fired by President Donald Trump has found a new position with the country's largest philanthropic supporter of the arts. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation exclusively told The Associated Press that Carla Hayden will join the humanities grantmaker Monday as a senior fellow whose duties will include advising on efforts to advance public knowledge through libraries and archives.
Associated Press
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Former Librarian of Congress, fired by Trump, vows to improve public information in new Mellon role
NEW YORK (AP) — The former Librarian of Congress abruptly fired by President Donald Trump has found a new position with the country's largest philanthropic supporter of the arts. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation exclusively told The Associated Press that Carla Hayden will join the humanities grantmaker Monday as a senior fellow whose duties will include advising on efforts to advance public knowledge through libraries and archives. The year-long post places Hayden back at the center of the very debates over American culture that surrounded her dismissal. The White House ousted Hayden, the first woman and the first African American to hold the title, after she was accused of promoting 'radical' literary material by a conservative advocacy group seeking to squash Trump opposition within the federal government. Hayden acknowledged existing threats to 'the free exchange of ideas' in a statement to the AP. 'For generations, libraries, archives, and cultural institutions have been the guardians of knowledge and the catalysts for human progress,' she said. 'Together, we will work to strengthen the public knowledge ecosystem and ensure that the transformative power of information remains accessible to all.' Meanwhile, the Mellon Foundation has been working to fill fiscal holes for arts communities reeling from federal cuts. Its $15 million 'emergency' fund aims to offset the $65 million that were supposed to go to the state humanities councils that organize book fairs, heritage festivals, theater productions and other programs fostering cultural engagement. The foundation has previously supported the American Library Association's efforts to counter book bans, increase scholarships for librarians of color and boost adult literacy. Mellon President Elizabeth Alexander said the foundation is thrilled to welcome Hayden, 'a leader with an unshakable regard for the public good of the American people,' during such a 'crucial time.' Public knowledge institutions are navigating 'historic challenges and transformative advances,' according to Mellon, including artificial intelligence, digital technologies, federal funding withdrawals and censorship efforts. Hayden's tenure at the Library of Congress included modernizing its collection of the nation's books and history. Recent campaigns sought to improve accessibility for everyday visitors. She oversaw new initiatives reaching out to rural and online audiences. And it was Hayden who arranged for Lizzo's 2022 performance where the artist played a crystal flute owned by President James Madison — among the Library's troves of artifacts. Before her confirmation in 2016, Hayden spent more than two decades as CEO of Baltimore's Enoch Pratt Free Library system and was president of the American Library Association from 2003 to 2004. A graduate of Roosevelt University and the University of Chicago, she is a member of the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. ___ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit
CBS News
08-06-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Former Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden speaks out on her firing by Trump
Former Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden speaks out on her firing by Trump Last month, Carla Hayden was nearing the end of her ten-year term as Librarian of Congress. Appointed by President Barack Obama, Hayden was the 14th Librarian of Congress since 1802. She was a history-maker – the first woman and first Black person to hold the job. Then, on May 8, Hayden received an email, one she thought may have been fake. It began simply, "Carla," and stated: "On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as the Librarian of Congress is terminated effective immediately." CBS News "I was never notified beforehand and after," she said. "No one has talked to me directly at all from the White House." She said she has received no phone call, either – only that single email. Hayden said there had never been any issues between her and President Trump: "Oh, no, or any other administration." "So, this wasn't personal?" Dr. Carla Hayden, former Librarian of Congress. CBS News "No, no. I don't think it was personal," she replied. "Do you think it was about power?" "I don't know what it was about, frankly," Hayden said. Hayden's firing is seen by many as part of a broader story. President Trump has been pushing out leaders at cultural institutions, and is targeting public media and universities for spending cuts. Call to action Last weekend, at Washington, D.C.'s Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, Hayden's supporters gathered for a town hall meeting. One speaker, author Kwame Alexander, said, "The firing of our distinguished, esteemed Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden, makes it clear to us that the freedom to read, the freedom to learn, the freedom to express ourselves is under attack. … We are simply going to be bold." On May 31, at Martin Luther King Jr. Library in Washington, D.C., a town hall meeting was held "to defend creative expression, access to all books, and the freedom to learn." CBS News I asked Hayden, "There are librarians, academics, activists, many people in America who are often seen as the 'quiet types,' they're being loud." "They're being loud, I think, and it's so humbling to have that outpouring of support," Hayden said. "But what is really, I think, part of this feeling is that it's part of a larger-seeming effort to diminish opportunities for the general public to have free access to information and inspiration. We like to say as librarians, 'Free people read freely.' And so, there's been an effort recently to quelch that." White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has addressed Hayden's dismissal, stating on May 9, "We felt she did not fit the needs of the American people. There were quite concerning things that she had done at the Library of Congress in the pursuit of DEI and, uh, putting inappropriate books in the library for children." Hayden's response? "When I heard those comments, I was concerned that there might not have been as much of an awareness of what the Library of Congress does." The library's primary function is to fulfil research requests from members of Congress – it is not a lending library for the general public. The White House press secretary also used the term "DEI," referring to "diversity, equity and inclusion." I asked Hayden, "When you hear that, as one of the most prominent Black women in the United States, what do you hear?" "It's been puzzling in many ways, to think about being 'inclusive' as a negative," Hayden said. "What's that all about?" "I don't know, because when you think about diversity, you can put it to its lowest level. It's wonderful to have options," Hayden said. "When you go and get ice cream, you know, this one likes strawberry, this one likes pistachio – you know? I would stay with the chocolate, I must say." The book that sparked a lifetime of reading While Hayden, who's 72, is no longer at the Library of Congress, the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, which she led for over two decades, has the feel of home. Hayden's lifetime of reading was sparked by a library book – "Bright April" by Marguerite De Angeli, the story of a Black girl and her family. She said she saw herself in that book: "Yeah, it was like, 'Oh my gosh, this is me,'" she said. "You see yourself. And that's why it's so important for young people to see themselves, or to read about experiences that they're having. 'Cause it validates you, because you've seen it in a book. Somebody took the time, somebody cared enough. "That's what librarians are fighting for, that people will be able to say, 'Here's a book about our family. We have a family that other people might think is a little different.' Or, 'Here's a book that talks about someone that's just like you.' And because it's in a book, it's been published, it means that it's real and it's important." Carla Hayden shows correspondent Robert Costa a copy of "Bright April." CBS News For Hayden, libraries do more than convene people in buildings; they convene Americans around our founding values. And she points to "Freedom to Read" – the 1953 statement by the American Library Association – as a guiding light. "The freedom to read is essential to our democracy," it said. "It is continuously under attack." Is it under attack today? "Democracy is under attack," Hayden said. "Democracies are not to be taken for granted. And the institutions that support democracy should not be taken for granted. And so, that's what the concern is about libraries and museums. It's part of a fabric. Think of it as an infrastructure that holds up – the libraries have been called one of the pillars of democracy, that you have these institutions in every community that allow anyone to come in and access knowledge." For more info: Story produced by Ed Forgotson. Editor: Chad Cardin.
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Fired US librarian of Congress details callous dismissal in new interview
The first woman and African American to serve as the US librarian of Congress before Donald Trump fired her in May has not heard from the president's administration beyond the 31-word email it sent her with word of her dismissal, she has revealed in her first interview since her ouster. 'No one has talked to me directly at all from the White House,' Carla Hayden says in an interview airing on the upcoming CBS News Sunday Morning. 'I've received no communication directly, except for that one email. 'That's the only communication.' Hayden's comments to the CBS national correspondent Robert Costa provide a first-hand glimpse at the unceremonious way she was fired from a post to which the US Senate confirmed her in 2016. She had been thrust under political pressure by a conservative advocacy group that had pledged to drive out anyone deemed to be standing in the way of the Trump White House's rightwing agenda. That organization, the American Accountability Foundation (AAF), leveled accusations against Hayden and other library leaders that they had promoted children's books with 'radical content' as well as literature by opponents of the president. Hayden then received an email on 8 May that read: 'Carla, on behalf of President Donald J Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as the Librarian of Congress is terminated effective immediately. Thank you for your service.' Asked by Acosta whether her tenure really ended 'with one missive that's electronic', Hayden replied: 'That was it.' She also remarked: 'I was never notified beforehand and after.' Hayden is one of numerous federal government officials whom Trump has dismissed upon having been convinced that they were not aligned with his second presidency's plans. Just hours before her firing became public, the AAF used its X account to insult her as 'woke' and 'anti-Trump'. 'It's time to get her OUT,' the AAF also said on X, in part. Congressional Democrats reacted with fury to Hayden's termination. New York's Chuck Schumer, the top US Senate Democrat, said Hayden was a 'trailblazer, a scholar and a public servant of the highest order'. The New York representative Joseph Morelle, the highest-ranking Democrat on the US House's administration committee, called Hayden 'an American hero'. 'Hayden has spent her entire career serving people – from helping kids learn to read to protecting some of our nation's most precious treasures,' said Morelle, whose committee oversees the congressional library. The Library of Congress sits across from the US Capitol in Washington DC. It holds a vast collection of the US's books and history, making it available to federal lawmakers as well as the public. It archives the papers of presidents and supreme court justices and has collections of rare books, images, music and artifacts. In 2022, Hayden arranged for the singer Lizzo to play one of those artifacts: a flute owned by James Madison, who was US president from 1809 to 1817.
