First woman and first African American to head Library of Congress

WASHINGTON—On Wednesday, July 13, 2016, the U.S. Senate confirmed President Obama’s nominee for Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden, by a vote of 74-18. Along with being the first woman and first African American to head the Library of Congress, Hayden is the first librarian to hold the position in six decades, according to the American Library Association. When Obama nominated Hayden in January, she was the chief executive of Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Free Library system, where she earned praise for modernizing the nation’s oldest library system and keeping the libraries open during the Freddie Gray unrest in 2015, including personally opening the doors to the branch located in the heart of the turmoil.   Read more…

— Source: TheWeek.com
Cover photo: Dave Munch, Baltimore Sun
Video:  The White House