Librarian of Congress firing is latest move in upheaval of U.S. cultural institutions

As the Librarian of Congress, Hayden was tasked with digitizing the library's monolithic collection. Al Drago/Getty Images hide caption

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Al Drago/Getty Images

By firing the Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden connected Thursday night, President Trump continued his remaking of American taste institutions.

Hayden was the archetypal pistillate and the archetypal African American to clasp the post. She was besides the archetypal idiosyncratic successful the occupation to beryllium term-limited. Her clip was acceptable to expire adjacent year.

"There were rather concerning things that she had done astatine the Library of Congress successful the pursuit of DEI and putting inappropriate books successful the room for children," said White House property caput Karoline Leavitt connected Friday.

NPR has reached retired to Hayden for comment.

The Library of Congress does a batch of things. It's the main probe limb of the U.S. Congress. It houses the U.S. Copyright Office. It organizes the National Book Festival each twelvemonth (which, afloat disclosure, has hosted NPR journalists). But it besides houses a elephantine trove of books, films, recordings, manuscripts, newspapers, and more, making it 1 of the largest libraries successful the world.

When Hayden archetypal got the occupation successful 2016, her main task was bringing the Library of Congress into the 21st period and digitizing the collection. It was a beauteous large job, considering the Government Accountability Office had conscionable published a study successful 2015 with the headline: "Strong Leadership Needed to Address Serious Information Technology Management Weaknesses."

By astir accounts, Hayden's enactment successful strengthening the Library's integer infrastructure has been a success. At a proceeding of the House Administration committee Tuesday, Republican Congressman Bryan Steil praised Hayden and her staff, saying they "dedicate a batch of clip and work to the state and the Library of Congress, and their enactment should beryllium commended."

While libraries successful wide person go fought-over turf successful the broader civilization wars, the Library of Congress has mostly stayed retired of those controversies. Beside checking successful connected the process of digitization, the different taxable of treatment successful this week's proceeding was the remodeling its of the Library's main speechmaking room.

Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, person criticized the firing.

Also this week, a fig of elder unit astatine the National Endowment for the Arts near their posts. In a missive published by the literate mag N+1, 4 members of the NEA's literate arts unit announced their departures. "While we don't cognize specifically however the enactment of the bureau volition change, we cognize the remaining unit volition bash their champion to enactment you," the missive read.

President Trump had antecedently projected eliminating the NEA. Over the weekend, arts groups crossed the country got an email saying their grants from the National Endowment for the Arts had been canceled. It read, "The NEA is updating its grantmaking argumentation priorities to absorption backing connected projects that bespeak the nation's affluent creator practice and creativity arsenic prioritized by the President."

This has since near arts groups – crossed the state scrambling for funding.

And connected Wednesday, CNN reported that a fig of performers successful the upcoming accumulation of Les Misérables at the Kennedy Center are readying connected boycotting erstwhile President Trump sees the amusement connected June 11.

Trump's takeover of the Kennedy Center was an aboriginal amusement of force. He fired Deborah Rutter, who served arsenic president of the performing arts halfway for a decade, and installed Richard Grenell arsenic its interim president. Trump besides placed himself arsenic seat of the board. A fig of artists who were slated to execute cancelled their appearances successful response.

This is conscionable a information of Trump's changes to arts institutions since helium took bureau successful January. He's besides attempted to chopped unit astatine the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Meghan Sullivan edited this story.