Carla Hayden, the 14th librarian of Congress, who was removed from her position by the White House on May 8, spoke with CBS journalist Robert Costa on the network’s June 8 Sunday Morning broadcast. The interview was conducted at Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Free Library, where Hayden was CEO for more than 20 years.
Hayden recalled the “confusing” email announcing her dismissal, which at first she thought might be one of the “fake emails” sometimes received in the workplace, noting that it was addressed to “Carla” and saying she was terminated “effective immediately.” (Typically, when the president of the United States wants to remove an appointee from a position, the president reaches out personally and offers to accept the appointee’s resignation.) Costa did not bring up the May 10 firing of register of copyrights Shira Perlmutter, who was appointed to her position in the U.S. Copyright Office in 2020 by Hayden.
“I was never notified beforehand, and after,” Hayden told Costa of her ouster. “No one has talked to me directly at all from the White House.” When Costa expressed surprise, Hayden said again, “I’ve received no communication directly except for that one email, ‘Carla.’ ”
Following Hayden’s dismissal, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a May 9 press conference that she had been dismissed because “we felt she did not fit the needs of the American people. There were quite concerning things she had done at the Library of Congress in the pursuit of DEI and putting inappropriate books in the library for children.” Leavitt did not elaborate on either accusation, nor did she acknowledge that perusal of the collections at the library of Congress is available only to visitors aged 16 or older, and must be done entirely on premises.
“When I heard those comments, I was concerned that there might not have been as much of an awareness of what the Library of Congress does,” Hayden said. In a voiceover, Costa explained to CBS viewers, “The library’s primary function is to fulfill research requests from members of Congress. It is not a lending library for the general public.”
Outcry over Hayden’s removal has been fierce, and Costa observed that information specialists with a reputation for being “quiet types” are “being loud” about the assault on libraries. “They’re being loud,” Hayden confirmed, “and it’s so humbling to have that outpouring of support.”
Intellectual freedom advocates are responding to a larger “effort to diminish opportunities for the general public to have free access to information and inspiration,” Hayden said. “We like to say as librarians, ‘Free people read freely,’ ” she continued. “There’s been an effort recently to quelch that.” In no uncertain terms, she added that “democracy is under attack,” and that the freedoms Americans have enjoyed are “not to be taken for granted.”
The CBS report included footage from the “Freadom” town hall and rally held by Hayden’s supporters at the Martin Luther King Jr. Library branch in Washington, D.C., on May 31, with the support of the D.C. Public Library, Freedom to Read Foundation, National Education Association, and the American Library Association, where Hayden served as president from 2003–2004. Speakers included former National Ambassadors of Young People’s Literature Meg Medina and Jason Reynolds, author and former ALA president Tracie D. Hall, and author and scholar Ibram X. Kendi, among others.
The footage shows author Kwame Alexander, who helped organize the town hall, stepping up to the microphone at the rally to speak to the crowd. “The firing of our distinguished, esteemed librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden,” he said, “made it clear to us that the freedom to read, the freedom to learn, the freedom to express ourselves is under attack.”
