This year’s theme is “Find Your Joy,” celebrating the joy and diverse resources found at libraries. This week’s celebrations highlight libraries as “third spaces” for community connection, creativity, and lifelong learning.
I’ve never withheld my love of books, nor my admiration for talented writers. As we celebrate National Library week, we will also put the spotlight on the powerful authors and their work throughout our history-some famous, some not.
Dr. Carla Diane Hayden is the fourteenth librarian of the U.S. Library of Congress. Hayden’s swearing-in as librarian was the first time a woman and an African American was appointed to the position. This is also the first time in more than sixty years that a professional librarian was confirmed to the post. Dr. Hayden was born on August 10, 1952, in Tallahassee, Florida. She received her bachelor of arts degree from Roosevelt University. Both Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Library Science are from the University of Chicago’s Graduate Library School in Illinois.
Dr. Hayden’s career spans over the course of forty years. Her career began with the Chicago Public Library, where she served as the children’s librarian and library associate from 1973 to 1979. She moved up to the position of young adult services coordinator from 1979 to 1982. The University of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) hired her as assistant professor for Library and Information Science where she worked from 1987 to 1991. From 1991 to 1993, she was the deputy commissioner and chief librarian of the Chicago Public Library. Her last position before being nominated as librarian of Congress was that of CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Maryland. She also served as the president of the American Library Association from 2003 to 2004, during a time when libraries across the U.S. were experiencing fiscal challenges.