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WASHINGTON (AP) — Carla Hayden has been sworn in as the 14th Librarian of Congress, becoming the first woman and the first African-American to lead the national library.
The 64-year-old Hayden was the longtime CEO of Baltimore’s library system. She was nominated last year by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate to head the Library of Congress.
She was sworn in Wednesday by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, with her hand on Abraham Lincoln’s Bible. It’s part of the library’s collection and was used by Obama at his inauguration.
Hayden says her opportunity to lead the library is significant “as a descendant of people who were denied the right to read.” A chief goal is to digitize material in the collection of 162 million items, the largest in the world.