Carla Hayden
Carla Hayden is a senior fellow at the Mellon Foundation and former CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Maryland. 1 She previously served as Librarian of Congress and became the subject of controversy after being fired by the Trump administration after reportedly leading diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at the Library of Congress. 2 3
Career
From 1982 to 1987, Carla Hayden was the library services coordinator for the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and then worked as an assistant professor for library and information science at the University of Pittsburgh until 1991. 1
From 1991 to 1993, Hayden served as the deputy commissioner and chief librarian of the Chicago Public Library, where it is reported that she first met then-future President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama. 1
In 1993, Hayden was named CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Maryland, a position she held until 2016. From 2003 to 2004, Hayden was also president of the American Library Association. 1
She was nominated by President Obama to be the Librarian of Congress in 2016, making her the first woman and Black person to oversee the Library of Congress. From 2003 to 2004, Hayden also served as president of the American Library Association. 1
Hayden was removed as Librarian of Congress in May 2025 by the second Trump administration and was subsequently appointed as a senior fellow of the Mellon Foundation in July 2025. 2 4
Librarian of Congress
In an interview with Time following her nomination for Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden stated that while women make up the overwhelming majority of librarians, because men make up the majority of leadership positions, it is “just as significant” for a woman to be the Librarian of Congress as it is for the first Black person to be nominated to achieve left-of-center diversity initiatives. She also stated that she believes there is a “feminist treatise on feminism and librarianship” that requires her to prioritize feminism in her career as a librarian. 5
In response to Hayden’s nomination by the Obama administration, Heritage Action for America published a report advocating for U.S. Senators to vote against her confirmation due to her “record of liberalism” and engagement in “radical librarianism.” The report also argued that Hayden opposed policies that would mandate libraries that receive federal funding filter pornography, including the Child Internet Protection Act, which blocked pornography access for minors in public libraries. 6
In 2022, Hayden announced that she named LGBT activist George Chauncey to be awarded the Kluge Prize for Achievement in the Study of Humanity. The Library of Congress argued that Chauncey’s work showed “that there was a much more vibrant and visible gay world than previously believed and to argue that there was a permeable boundary between straight and gay behavior, especially among working-class men.” The announcement also stated that the Library will create programs to promote Chauncey’s work on LGBT history and will promote it with policymakers. 7
In May 2025, President Donald Trump dismissed Hayden from her position before the conclusion of her ten-year term. The right-of-center American Accountability Foundation had called for Hayden’s removal on the grounds that she was “an aggressive liberal ideologue.” 8
Regarding her firing, Trump White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated, “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 putting inappropriate books in the library for children.” 9
In an interview with PBS, Hayden argued, “As centuries of dictators, tyrants, slave owners and other illicit holders of power have known, an illiterate crowd is the easiest to rule. And if you cannot restrict a people from learning to read, you must limit its scope.” 3