APALA Statement Regarding Dr. Carla Hayden

CONTACT:
Silvia Lew
Co-Chair, Media & Publicity Committee
Asian Pacific American Librarians Association
communications@apalaweb.org

APALA Statement Regarding Dr. Carla Hayden

As we approach ALA Annual 2025, APALA extends our sincere gratitude to Dr. Carla Hayden for her unwavering support and enduring advocacy for libraries and the library profession. We view her recent dismissal as both unnecessary and deeply troubling, yet another threat to American libraries and the democratic values they uphold. In the face of this action, Dr. Hayden has continued to demonstrate grace, professionalism, and unshakable commitment to literacy, access, and equity.

It is widely known that Dr. Carla Hayden, who was appointed in 2016 under former President Barack Obama, is the first woman and first person of color to lead the Library of Congress. Her appointment, as the first professional librarian to serve as Librarian of Congress since 1974, was an affirmation of the expertise and value of librarians and a cause for celebration for our profession.

Dr. Hayden is an outstanding information professional who is more than qualified to lead in this role. She holds a Master’s degree and a PhD, both in Library Science from the University of Chicago. She has a long history of public service, professorship, and leadership in her career, with roles including professor at the University of Pittsburgh, head of the Chicago Public Library, and Executive Director of the Enoch Pratt Free Library. Her esteemed honors include being named the Librarian of the Year by Library Journal, numerous honorary degrees; and recognitions from the American Library Association including the Joseph W. Lippincott Award (2013), Melvil Dewey Medal (2017), Honorary Membership (2018), and the Ken Haycock Award for Promoting Librarianship (2023).

Dr. Hayden is an inspiring and warm professional who always makes time to welcome new librarians to the profession, whether in an official capacity or simply taking the time to chat and pose for photographs. As the 2003/04 ALA President, Dr. Hayden was pivotal in developing the Spectrum Scholarship Program, which provides support for people of color in the form of MLIS scholarships, mentoring, and community building. Countless members of APALA have been welcomed into the profession through Spectrum, which has since expanded to include support for doctoral students.

In her time as ALA President, Dr. Hayden demonstrated her integrity by challenging the USA Patriot Act and the rights of the US government to seize library records. Although she was recently approaching the end of her ten-year term as the 14th Librarian of Congress, it is not a stretch to imagine she would have spent the remainder of her term fighting for social justice and equity.

We at APALA find the dismissal of Dr. Hayden from her post—delivered through a single-sentence email—to be an unfounded extension of the attacks by the Trump administration against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; the Freedom to Read; and upon libraries as a pillar of democracy. We commend Dr. Hayden for her long legacy of service, and we affirm the ALA Freedom to Read statement.

We look forward to her discussion with author Kwame Alexander at ALA Annual this Saturday, June 28.

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