Carla Hayden, Recently Dismissed Librarian of Congress, Joins Mellon Foundation as Senior Fellow

New York, NY – Carla Hayden, who served as the Librarian of Congress until her recent dismissal by President Donald Trump, has been appointed as a senior fellow with the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The foundation announced Hayden's new role on July 7, 2025, where she will focus on advancing public knowledge through libraries and archives. This appointment follows her abrupt departure from the Library of Congress on May 8, 2025.

Hayden's new position at the Mellon Foundation involves scholarship, writing, and research projects, alongside advising the foundation's leadership on initiatives supporting libraries and public knowledge ecosystems. The Mellon Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization that supports the humanities and arts, aligning with Hayden's career-long advocacy for accessible information and cultural institutions.

Her dismissal from the Library of Congress, a post she held since 2016 after being nominated by President Barack Obama, was communicated via a two-sentence email. The tweet announcing her new role noted, "Carla Hayden, the ex-Librarian of Congress who was fired by Trump, has a new role as senior fellow with the Mellon Foundation." White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that Hayden "did not fit the needs of the American people" and cited concerns over her pursuit of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives and the inclusion of "inappropriate books" for children at the Library.

Hayden, the first woman and first African American to lead the Library of Congress, has been a vocal proponent of intellectual freedom and accessibility. During her tenure, she focused on modernizing the institution, digitizing its vast collections, and making them more accessible to the public. Prior to her role in Washington, she served as the CEO of Baltimore's Enoch Pratt Free Library for over two decades and was president of the American Library Association from 2003 to 2004, where she notably opposed provisions of the Patriot Act concerning library user privacy.

Her appointment at the Mellon Foundation signals a continued commitment to these principles, leveraging her extensive experience to address contemporary challenges facing cultural and educational institutions. The move is seen by many in the library community as a significant development for the future of public information access and the humanities.