Carla Hayden Talks About the Library of Congress Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Please enable Javascript in your browser and try again. × Search search POPULAR SEARCHES SUGGESTED LINKS Join AARP for just $9 per year when you sign up for a 5-year term. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Leaving AARP.org Website You are now leaving AARP.org and going to a website that is not operated by AARP. A different privacy policy and terms of service will apply.

Librarian of Congress Illuminates Its Hidden Treasures

Carla Hayden talks about her journey and the library s special artifacts

Carla Hayden, 67, is only the 14th librarian of Congress. Andrew Hetherington Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. You got in some trouble reading too much as a child, right? I was attending P.S. 96 in Jamaica, Queens, and there was a small storefront branch library right across the street. I checked [one particular] book out so much that I had to use my allowance to pay the fines. It was a learning experience. You have plenty of books to choose from here. More than 24 million books, but then there are also lots of other items, like diaries and maps. Tell me about some of the artifacts here. We have one of three known locks of hair from Beethoven. We have four locks of Thomas Jefferson’s hair from different stages in his life. We have Harry Houdini’s files. AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Flowers & Gifts 25% off sitewide and 30% off select items See more Flowers & Gifts offers > How do you display special objects? We’re working on having, for the first time, a treasures gallery at the Library of Congress. We would put the Gutenberg Bible there. Then we would bring out some things people don’t know we have, like some of the first editions of the world’s largest collection of comic books. We would be able to rotate these things in and out for the public. What other special exhibits are here? We are in a yearlong , women’s suffrage. That exhibit takes advantage of the fact that we have the papers of Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Mary Church Terrell and the National American Woman Suffrage Association. That exhibit runs through next summer. "People who looked like me were once forbidden to read." — CARLA HAYDEN Why do we have a Library of Congress? Its original mission is still part of its mission now, and that is to serve Congress. It started in 1800 with about 700 books, mainly legal books to serve the new Congress. After the British burned the library during the War of 1812, Thomas Jefferson [sold to the library] his collection. It was about 6,000 books, and that was the largest personal library in the United States. It included religious texts — the Bible, the Koran — books in different languages. He said that there is no subject that members of Congress should not have to refer to. That set the framework for future collecting. Your first library job was in Chicago 46 years ago. You later ran a library in Baltimore. What drew you to that work? I love books and reading and knew what they meant to me. When I found out that there was a profession that could help other people enjoy reading, I thought this is really something that speaks to me personally. It was really a match made in heaven. More on politics-society AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. AARP VALUE & MEMBER BENEFITS See more Health & Wellness offers > See more Flights & Vacation Packages offers > See more Finances offers > See more Health & Wellness offers > SAVE MONEY WITH THESE LIMITED-TIME OFFERS