CLEVELAND — Dr. Carla Hayden is the first female Librarian of Congress since 1802, and that's not the only glass ceiling she has shattered.
Hayden is also the first person of color to ever hold the position, appointed by former President Barack Obama in 2016.
She said breaking those barriers has been both personally and professionally meaningful.
"Because people who looked like me were forbidden by law in this country to learn to read. And even people who tried to teach them were often punished," Hayden said. "So that so that was quite significant to now have a person who looks like me lead the largest library in the world."
Hayden will be hosting a virtual event for The Literacy Cooperative on Wednesday, a celebration of “Read Across America.” It will be moderated by Felton Thomas, the director of the Cleveland Public Library.
The Literacy Cooperative is a Cleveland-based nonprofit that helps run programs like The Imagination Library, which sends free books to kids from birth to age five, to build up their home libraries.
Hayden said having books in the home and that a child owns is significant to literacy development.
To register for the event on Wednesday, click here.
To learn more and sign up for the Imagination Library, click here.
