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‘Accidental librarian’ Carla Hayden describes the role of libraries in a democracy

Patrick Spero, Carla Hayden, and David Sloane sit and speak in a panel discussion setting

Carla Hayden, the 14th Librarian of Congress, was the featured speaker at the 10th George Washington Leadership Lecture Series at Mount Vernon. (Photo: Dave Scavone)

By Greg Hardesty

Carla Hayden calls herself an “accidental librarian.”

The daughter of classically trained musicians, she says she realized at age 12 she wasn’t musically gifted.

But there were always books.

The 14th librarian of Congress since the office was created in 1802 – and the first African American and the first woman to hold the post – Hayden recalls the thrill of seeing herself in the main character of the classic children’s book, “Bright April.”

Published in 1946, Marguerite De Angeli’s story of a Black child growing up in suburban Philadelphia was one of the first U.S. children’s books to address racial prejudice.

The story’s message is that all children should be treated equally – the same egalitarian philosophy Hayden has practiced during her 50-year career that began in 1973 when she was hired as a children’s librarian at the Chicago Public Library.

“Books are supposed to be windows to the world, but they also are mirrors that allow people to see themselves,” says Hayden, who discussed “The Importance of Libraries in our American Democracy” at the 10th George Washington Leadership Lecture Series at Mount Vernon on Oct. 12.

Patrick Spero, Carla Hayden, and David Sloane stand and pose for picture.
Patrick Spero, Carla Hayden, and David Sloane. (Photo: Dave Scavone)

The annual event, sponsored by the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon, was moderated by David Sloane, USC Price School Professor and Chair of the Department of Urban Planning and Spatial Analysis. Also featured this year was Patrick Spero, the recently hired executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon.

In 2016, President Barack Obama appointed Hayden to lead the Library of Congress, which occupies three buildings on Capitol Hill. It is the world’s largest library, the main research arm of the U.S. Congress, and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office.

Prior to her appointment, Hayden served for 23 years as chief executive officer of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore. It was there that she experienced a defining moment that solidified her view of libraries as community anchors.

‘The heart of the community’

The Pennsylvania Avenue branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library was at the epicenter of riots that erupted following the April 2015 in-custody death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray. The library branch was across the street from a CVS drugstore that was looted and burned.

Hayden didn’t hesitate to keep the library open in the ensuing days as protests over police brutality continued.

“The library has been the community’s anchor,” says Hayden, who once considered a career in law after earning undergraduate degrees in political science and history. “It’s the heart of the community during good times and bad times.”

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Hayden says her decision to keep the library open, which came with no hesitation, is all about leadership.

“As a leader,” she says, “you don’t ask people to do something that you wouldn’t do yourself.”

It’s a commitment she has made throughout her career. In 1995, Hayden was the first African American to receive Library Journal’s Librarian of the Year Award in recognition of her outreach services at the Pratt Library, including an after-school center that offered homework assistance and college and career counseling to Baltimore teenagers.

Libraries change lives

Back when Hayden was beginning her career as a librarian, the USC Price School’s David Sloane was working on his dissertation in the Library of Congress.

The library “opened my eyes to things that were unimaginable,” Sloane recalls. “I stood in front of a 12-foot-high stack of every book I ever wanted to read (for my dissertation) and sat there reading for three days. It changed my life in some real way.”

“Books are supposed to be windows to the world, but they also are mirrors that allow people to see themselves.”

Carla Hayden

Hayden has worked to make the Library of Congress as inclusive as possible and more than an enclave for scholarly research. Plans are in the works, she says, to create an educational center for children.

“I admire Carla Hayden’s commitment to making the Library of Congress accessible just as she has done throughout her career, and that she has kept trying to think of new ways to define accessibility and reach out to new categories of patrons,” Sloane says.

About the George Washington Leadership Lecture Series

Commenting on the traits shared by Hayden and the first president of the United States, Sloane notes: “It’s a lesson any great leader can learn from Washington: be present. Leadership is about being there.”

Now in its 10th year, the George Washington Leadership Lecture Series at Mount Vernon was established through a gift by Maribeth Borthwick (’73), vice regent for California of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, the non-profit that preserves and maintains the Mount Vernon estate originally owned by Washington’s family.

Sloane says the USC Price School highly values its partnership with Mount Vernon: “We look forward to continuing to demonstrate the key leadership roles and principles George Washington propounded.”

2023 George Washington Lecture at Mt. Vernon Library