Hard Left Library of Congress

By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

A couple of weeks ago, while nobody was looking, with a lot of help from the Republican Party, the U.S. Senate confirmed Carla Hayden as the new head of the Library of Congress.  She is the first woman and the first black to serve as librarian of Congress.  Congratulations, it is a historic event.

Except. . .

Carla is, according to Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation, “an unqualified, far-left progressive.”  Yet, the vote was an incredible 74-19 to confirm her.  Prior to this appointment Carla D. Hayden led Baltimore’s public library system.

All 19 senators who voted no on Hayden are Republicans.  Six of the seven senators who did not vote were also members of the GOP.

Critics said Hayden falls short of the scholarly credentials traditionally expected of the nation’s librarian of Congress.

“Hayden has made a name for herself in the far-left community as a radical activist,” the conservative group Concerned Women for America wrote to the Senate before that vote. “This position is not one for radical activism, but for academic honesty and integrity.”

The Library of Congress controls the nation’s Copyright Office as well as the Congressional Research Service. The library also provides members of Congress with legal advice.

Hayden’s background indicates she is a political activist who could compromise the library’s neutrality and integrity.  In his cynical statement nominating Carla Hayden to be librarian of Congress, President Obama cited her race and gender as her major qualifications, hoping that would immunize her from scrutiny.

Hayden opposes the Children’s Internet Protection Act, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 2000, which is aimed at protecting children from viewing illegal and obscene material at a public, federally funded, library.  In an on-camera interview, Hayden said she “spearheaded” the American Library Association’s “efforts to overturn” the legislation.

In 2003, Hayden also crossed swords with then-Attorney General John Ashcroft over the Patriot Act when the American Library Association opposed a provision allowing federal authorities to inspect library borrowing records to identify potential terrorists.

“This is someone who clearly believes you should have uncensored access to pornography in public libraries, and that’s the person the Republicans and Blunt (Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.) want to rush through,” von Spakovsky said, adding:

Blunt is acting like the de facto leader of the Democrats in the Senate. He’s taking on the role of [Minority Leader] Harry Reid, and he’s acting like a Democrat and doing Obama’s bidding on this nominee when there’s no Democratic pressure for this nomination.

Blunt not only defied the advice of Concerned Women for America and other conservative organizations, von Spakovsky said, but “accelerated the nomination at every stage.”

With a progressive hard left loony-tune in this position, does that place at risk the record keeping of history in America?  Will certain titles now be banned, or disallowed because they are conservative in nature?  The IRS targeted conservatives, so I see no reason why Hayden won't.

President John Adams signed legislation creating the Library of Congress on April 24, 1800. In 1802, President Thomas Jefferson signed a law establishing the post of librarian of Congress.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary