Dr. Carla Hayden, director of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, just might be getting a job promotion.
President Obama announced his intention to nominate Dr. Hayden to serve as the next Librarian of Congress in Washington, D.C. Wednesday. Dr. Hayden has served as the Enoch Pratt Free Library director since 1993.
"Michelle and I have known Dr. Carla Hayden for a long time, since her days working at the Chicago Public Library, and I am proud to nominate her to lead our nation’s oldest federal institution as our 14th Librarian of Congress," President Obama said in a release.
Senators Barbara Mikulski and Benjamin Cardin said they wrote to President Obama back in October in support of Hayden’s nomination.
"I'm proud to have recommended Dr. Hayden to President Obama to serve as our next Librarian of Congress, and look forward to her confirmation by the Senate," Senator Mikulski said in a statement. "Dr. Hayden has brought knowledge and truth to our communities, helping the leaders of today blaze trails and forge the way to the future. She has done a great service to Baltimore families, leading the way as Enoch Pratt Libraries light up the way for so many with knowledge… Baltimore's loss of Dr. Hayden would be Congress and the nation's gain."
Hayden has a long history of work in the community, serving as chief librarian of the Chicago Public Library before coming to Baltimore, and also becoming the first African American to receive the Library Journal's Librarian of the Year Award in 1995.
Dr. Hayden’s nomination will be considered by the Rules Committee before going to the Senate for a vote. If appointed, she would replace acting Librarian of Congress David S. Mao, who stepped into the role in October following James H. Billington's retirement.
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