WEBVTT - Carla Hayden 0:00:03.400 --> 0:00:06.120 The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world. 0:00:06.240 --> 0:00:09.520 It's led by Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress. She's 0:00:09.640 --> 0:00:12.400 unique because she's the first woman to be library in Congress, 0:00:12.520 --> 0:00:15.000 the first African American to be Library in Congress, and 0:00:15.040 --> 0:00:17.800 also one of the first librarians to be library in Congress. 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:19.800 I had a chance to sit down with her recently 0:00:19.960 --> 0:00:22.200 to hear her story and how she's trying to open 0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:25.600 up the Library of Congress to all Americans. So why 0:00:25.680 --> 0:00:28.720 does Congress need a library? Can't they just use the 0:00:28.760 --> 0:00:30.680 regular library other people have. Why do they need their 0:00:30.680 --> 0:00:31.360 own library? 0:00:31.600 --> 0:00:36.760 Well, Congress, and think about this. In eighteen hundred, a 0:00:36.880 --> 0:00:42.280 new nation, a new legislative body, there was the thought 0:00:42.320 --> 0:00:46.080 that they needed some reference books, and they were mainly 0:00:46.560 --> 0:00:49.760 law books. The first books that were purchased about six 0:00:49.840 --> 0:00:54.280 hundred books. And that's how the Library of Congress really started. 0:00:54.320 --> 0:00:56.400 Think of the name the Library of Congress. So it 0:00:56.520 --> 0:01:01.440 is a reference and research tool for Congress. And they 0:01:01.520 --> 0:01:05.399 knew that because they have parliamentary libraries and they knew 0:01:05.440 --> 0:01:07.720 about those types of things, so they knew that as 0:01:07.840 --> 0:01:10.400 legislators they might have to refer. 0:01:10.880 --> 0:01:15.120 Now in twenty twenty four. The Library of Congress is 0:01:15.160 --> 0:01:18.479 much bigger than it was when we first started eighteen hundred. 0:01:18.640 --> 0:01:21.720 But is it really properly named the Library of Congress 0:01:21.760 --> 0:01:24.640 now because it isn't more than just a library for 0:01:24.680 --> 0:01:25.920 congressmen and women. 0:01:26.240 --> 0:01:31.480 Well, it's evolved, and over time it evolved into not 0:01:31.560 --> 0:01:36.200 only the reference tool for Congress. And there's still about 0:01:36.240 --> 0:01:40.720 five hundred experts in just about every field that are 0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:47.600 dedicated to being the researchers and nonpartisan experts for Congress. 0:01:47.640 --> 0:01:51.960 And that's still there, but the library has expanded to 0:01:52.120 --> 0:01:54.640 serve the people that Congress serves. 0:01:54.880 --> 0:01:56.320 So now it is. 0:01:56.200 --> 0:01:59.480 The largest library in the world, with one hundred and 0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:03.560 seventy eight million items, and it serves everyone. 0:02:04.320 --> 0:02:04.639 Now. 0:02:05.120 --> 0:02:08.320 The only people who can actually check out materials in 0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:12.840 the traditional sense are members of Congress and their staff members. 0:02:13.320 --> 0:02:16.600 But members of the public, the general public, can come 0:02:16.639 --> 0:02:21.840 into the Library of Congress's facilities and use materials on site. 0:02:22.080 --> 0:02:24.639 Let's suppose I am a person who wants to use 0:02:24.680 --> 0:02:28.160 the Library Congress for research and I need some books 0:02:28.200 --> 0:02:29.800 I want to take home to read them at home. 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:32.000 I cannot do that if I'm a regular, you. 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:32.760 Could not do that. 0:02:32.800 --> 0:02:36.680 What you could do and what many libraries, public libraries, 0:02:36.760 --> 0:02:41.359 and university and college libraries throughout the United States and 0:02:41.400 --> 0:02:46.880 even in some international facilities. The Library of Congress will 0:02:46.919 --> 0:02:52.400 loan materials to another library and a patron could look 0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:54.800 at the materials right there, but they couldn't take them home, 0:02:54.840 --> 0:02:57.519 but they could look at them in their own library. 0:02:57.880 --> 0:03:01.320 Okay, so what does the Library Congress actually do? 0:03:02.520 --> 0:03:02.720 Now? 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:07.680 The Library and of Congress is basically the CEO of 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:12.360 the entire enterprise, and that includes the US Copyright Office. 0:03:12.560 --> 0:03:17.480 The Library of Congress in eighteen seventy became the administrative 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:25.400 operation and really the main manager of the US copyright system. 0:03:25.600 --> 0:03:29.480 That's also how the library collection grew because when you 0:03:29.880 --> 0:03:34.720 register for copyright whatever it is, you are required to 0:03:35.080 --> 0:03:39.440 deposit too copies of whatever it is now that could 0:03:39.440 --> 0:03:44.080 be wallpaper, video games, but books. And when the Library 0:03:44.120 --> 0:03:49.080 of Congress became the administrator of the copyright system, they 0:03:49.080 --> 0:03:53.600 were able to then select from deposits and the collection 0:03:53.720 --> 0:03:54.240 really grew. 0:03:54.800 --> 0:03:56.920 So we've had the Library of Congress who started in 0:03:56.960 --> 0:04:02.360 eighteen hundred. Many women have been librarians of Congress before you. 0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:07.960 I'm their first female Library of Congress since eighteen oh two. 0:04:08.480 --> 0:04:11.840 So the library itself was established the law books in 0:04:11.920 --> 0:04:15.920 eighteen hundred, and then in eighteen oh two there was 0:04:15.920 --> 0:04:18.479 a thought, well, we need somebody to manage this, and 0:04:18.520 --> 0:04:21.320 that's when the first Librarian of Congress was appointed. 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:24.720 How many African Americans have been Library of Congress before you? 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:29.000 That's also me and so I'm a twofer in terms 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:32.760 of that. So there haven't been any people of color 0:04:33.160 --> 0:04:37.440 or females, And it's interesting the most one of the 0:04:37.440 --> 0:04:41.960 most unusual parts of being in the position is the 0:04:42.000 --> 0:04:46.760 fact that I'm a female, because librarianship is one of 0:04:46.839 --> 0:04:51.200 what they call the four feminized professions, where eighty five 0:04:51.279 --> 0:04:56.080 to ninety percent of the people who work in the 0:04:56.120 --> 0:05:00.760 institution are female, but the top management doesn't reflect that. 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:04.440 So is there a library that's bigger than the Library 0:05:04.440 --> 0:05:06.279 of Congress anywhere in the world? Does any country have 0:05:06.320 --> 0:05:09.520 a bigger collection of books than the Library of Congress. 0:05:09.640 --> 0:05:12.719 We've just been designated in the Guinness Book of World 0:05:12.839 --> 0:05:16.000 Records as the largest library in the world, and our 0:05:16.160 --> 0:05:20.760 closest competitor, and it's really not a competition, is the 0:05:20.800 --> 0:05:26.000 British Library. That's the National Library of Great Britain, and 0:05:26.040 --> 0:05:29.440 we have a friendly kind of rivalry, but in terms 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:33.480 of number of items, and we definitely are the largest. 0:05:33.680 --> 0:05:36.560 So you have more than books. You have regular books, 0:05:36.600 --> 0:05:39.120 you have comic books, you have maps, you have manuscripts, so. 0:05:39.360 --> 0:05:43.160 Photographs, film, all types, any format. 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:47.440 Let me ask you today, almost everything is digitized, it seems, 0:05:47.800 --> 0:05:49.960 so why do we really need libraries since you can 0:05:50.040 --> 0:05:51.560 just go on a computer and get everything. Do you 0:05:51.600 --> 0:05:53.680 really need to keep all these books? Why not just 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:55.520 digitize them and then say thank you? 0:05:55.760 --> 0:06:00.400 There are so many items that have not been digitized 0:06:00.480 --> 0:06:03.600 and might not ever be digitized. When you think about 0:06:03.720 --> 0:06:09.960 the diaries of Theodore Roosevelt. The Library Congress has the 0:06:10.000 --> 0:06:15.040 papers of twenty three presidents from George Washington to Coolidge. 0:06:15.080 --> 0:06:20.280 There will still be analog materials that could be digitized, 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:25.200 but will be in analog form and books. Even though 0:06:25.480 --> 0:06:30.440 you can get things in digital form, there are still 0:06:30.560 --> 0:06:34.960 people and there still will be an appetite for a 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:40.279 physical item. But the future is definitely digital, and so 0:06:40.520 --> 0:06:44.640 libraries like the Library Congress, British Library, all libraries are 0:06:45.640 --> 0:06:49.599 making sure that they have the infrastructure to be able 0:06:49.680 --> 0:06:53.080 to get materials that are born digital. And so we 0:06:53.200 --> 0:06:55.440 have quite a bit of materials that are coming in. 0:06:55.560 --> 0:06:59.440 They never are in analog form. They're coming straight in 0:06:59.520 --> 0:07:03.360 digital film and we're able to circulate. 0:07:02.880 --> 0:07:05.479 Them as we talk. Now, what do you think you 0:07:05.560 --> 0:07:07.480 have done in your period of time eight years or 0:07:07.560 --> 0:07:11.000 so to open up the library to the average citizen 0:07:11.040 --> 0:07:14.520 more than was done before, specifically with respective children. What 0:07:14.600 --> 0:07:16.080 have you done well? 0:07:16.120 --> 0:07:21.520 We've started to be a card member to use the 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:23.640 eighteen reading rooms of the library. 0:07:23.680 --> 0:07:27.160 Cards will have to be sixteen. It's a card. 0:07:27.200 --> 0:07:30.480 It's a reader's card to give you access to the materials, 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:33.120 to say that you're responsible in that even though you 0:07:33.120 --> 0:07:35.560 can't check them out. It's to have a record of 0:07:35.600 --> 0:07:39.040 who's coming in and to do that. What we've done, though, 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:43.000 is to expand the offerings that we have for young people. 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:47.440 We have a Young People's Ambassador for Literature, We have 0:07:47.560 --> 0:07:49.600 literacy programs. 0:07:49.040 --> 0:07:50.760 And you've been involved in. 0:07:50.760 --> 0:07:55.520 Giving actual awards to literacy groups that help young people 0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:58.600 learn how to read. And so the offerings that we 0:07:58.680 --> 0:08:01.440 have for young people people have expanded greatly. 0:08:01.840 --> 0:08:04.120 Literacy is a big problem in the United States. I 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:07.920 think fourteen percent of adults are functioning illiterate, which means 0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:10.040 they can't read past the fourth grade. Level, that's a 0:08:10.120 --> 0:08:13.680 large percentage of the population. Nothing the Library of Congress 0:08:13.720 --> 0:08:16.400 can do can completely solve that problem. But are you 0:08:16.480 --> 0:08:19.160 surprised at how many people still cannot read in this country? 0:08:19.400 --> 0:08:23.240 And how many people have another problem called illiteracy or 0:08:23.760 --> 0:08:26.280 literacy which means they can read, but they don't choose 0:08:26.280 --> 0:08:28.960 to read. They don't and is that a growing problem? 0:08:29.160 --> 0:08:33.160 And that's it's a challenge with the digital age because 0:08:33.280 --> 0:08:37.400 people are they're reading on tablet, so we do count 0:08:37.440 --> 0:08:40.760 that as reading. If you have an ebook, you're reading 0:08:40.840 --> 0:08:43.880 the book. And I've been often asked if I'm listening 0:08:43.920 --> 0:08:45.880 to a book, are you reading? 0:08:45.920 --> 0:08:46.760 Does that count? 0:08:47.080 --> 0:08:52.679 But there is a concern that the amount of reading 0:08:52.880 --> 0:08:57.480 actual texts that people are doing is diminishing. And so 0:08:57.520 --> 0:09:01.440 how do you work with other organizations? So the Library 0:09:01.520 --> 0:09:05.640 Congress connects to public library school libraries and we do 0:09:05.840 --> 0:09:11.760 joint programming with them because there is an opportunity for 0:09:11.960 --> 0:09:17.920 us to let people know and to make reading more interesting. 0:09:18.200 --> 0:09:20.560 So literacy is a challenge for sure, But in the 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:23.679 libraries around the country, our libraries being used more and 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:26.800 more because people can't afford to buy books, or are 0:09:26.800 --> 0:09:28.640 they being used because it's a good place to gather 0:09:28.679 --> 0:09:31.240 where it's quiet. Why don't we actually have all these 0:09:31.320 --> 0:09:34.480 thousands of libraries anymore? When people are often doing things 0:09:34.520 --> 0:09:36.319 digitally and they don't need to go to a physical 0:09:36.360 --> 0:09:37.520 place to get a book. 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:40.840 People are using public libraries as and someone is it 0:09:40.960 --> 0:09:46.959 as opportunity centers. They use the high speed computers to 0:09:47.000 --> 0:09:50.600 fill out job applications, to interact with government. 0:09:50.679 --> 0:09:52.600 They hold e government aspect. 0:09:52.760 --> 0:09:58.120 They are using libraries as places to register to vote, to. 0:09:58.280 --> 0:10:00.320 Vote and all types of things. 0:10:00.360 --> 0:10:05.280 And libraries are offering collections that are beyond books. So 0:10:05.440 --> 0:10:11.679 libraries are circulating and responding to communities in so many ways. 0:10:12.160 --> 0:10:14.240 So let's talk a bit about your background, how you 0:10:14.320 --> 0:10:16.880 became a librarian. So where were you born? 0:10:17.520 --> 0:10:21.200 I was born on the campus of Florida A and 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:26.040 M University, historically Black college in Tallahassee, Florida. 0:10:26.760 --> 0:10:29.360 And were your parents' teachers there? 0:10:29.559 --> 0:10:34.520 Yes, My father had been recruited to start the string 0:10:34.640 --> 0:10:39.880 department at that school. He was a classically trained violinist 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:42.839 and string instruments and so he was there. And then 0:10:42.920 --> 0:10:46.679 my mom was a pianist. She was as a companists 0:10:46.760 --> 0:10:50.000 many times, and so they went down there. 0:10:50.080 --> 0:10:51.439 They'd never been to Florida. 0:10:51.559 --> 0:10:55.080 They had never been to a historically back college and 0:10:55.440 --> 0:11:00.240 they were from Springfield, Illinois, my dad and Champagne or 0:11:00.280 --> 0:11:03.640 my mom, so it was just a totally different experience 0:11:03.679 --> 0:11:04.040 for them. 0:11:04.800 --> 0:11:07.360 So let me ask you how you got out of 0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:10.520 Florida because you were born there, you're raised there. But 0:11:10.559 --> 0:11:11.880 then where did you go to college? 0:11:12.360 --> 0:11:14.520 Well, there was a little byway there. 0:11:14.840 --> 0:11:20.679 My dad got bitten by the Jazz Book and we 0:11:20.760 --> 0:11:24.439 moved to New York City so we could pursue that 0:11:24.679 --> 0:11:27.320 parents got divorced because my mom did not get bitten 0:11:27.360 --> 0:11:31.400 by that book. So then we returned to their home 0:11:31.440 --> 0:11:34.959 states of Illinois. So I ended up going to high 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:37.880 school and then college in Chicago. 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:40.400 And you went to college ultimately. 0:11:40.000 --> 0:11:43.640 Where Roosevelt University and University of Chicago. 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:46.240 Right, So you got a PhD in Library Sciences at 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:51.160 the University Coago. Yes, So are there many library schools anymore? 0:11:51.200 --> 0:11:52.400 Because I thought some of them, that one of the 0:11:52.440 --> 0:11:55.319 U in Chicago no longer exists. But are there still 0:11:55.320 --> 0:11:57.000 a lot of library schools around the United States? 0:11:57.080 --> 0:12:01.720 They're about fifty six library schools, but now they're mainly 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:08.920 called information science schools, Schools of information science or information management. 0:12:09.679 --> 0:12:14.960 The University of Chicago school closed and the Columbia University 0:12:15.400 --> 0:12:19.720 closed because their programs were deemed a little too academic. 0:12:20.400 --> 0:12:22.880 So after you got your PhD from the University of 0:12:23.000 --> 0:12:26.520 Chicago and library Sciences, what did you do well? 0:12:26.559 --> 0:12:30.599 I went off to teach at the Library School and 0:12:31.520 --> 0:12:35.480 University of Pittsburgh. And that school was really before its time. 0:12:35.520 --> 0:12:40.559 The dean there was Tony Carbel, really wanted to make 0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:45.120 sure that there was a merger with information science computer science. 0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:49.560 She brought in technology companies and it was really an 0:12:49.600 --> 0:12:51.520 innovative library school. 0:12:51.559 --> 0:12:53.880 And then did you go back to Chicago from there? 0:12:54.080 --> 0:12:57.199 I went back, and I went back because one of 0:12:57.200 --> 0:13:00.920 my students that I had sent off with all this 0:13:03.120 --> 0:13:07.280 knowledge is power and go and work in these libraries 0:13:07.320 --> 0:13:10.319 and help people and everything. He came back and said, 0:13:10.360 --> 0:13:13.600 I'm going to get a PhD and. 0:13:13.600 --> 0:13:14.480 I want to teach. 0:13:15.200 --> 0:13:17.200 And I said, but you were doing so well, I 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:20.560 thought at this big urban library, and he said, well, 0:13:20.880 --> 0:13:23.880 you told me to bring my ideas up. And I 0:13:23.920 --> 0:13:27.839 saw the director of the library and I went up 0:13:27.840 --> 0:13:30.800 to him and he I was trying to tell him 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:32.720 some of the things that I was interested in, and 0:13:32.760 --> 0:13:36.680 he blew me off, and I thought, oh, okay, this 0:13:36.760 --> 0:13:40.480 isn't and so I'm coming back to academ. 0:13:40.200 --> 0:13:42.960 So what did you do? You joined the Chicago. 0:13:42.800 --> 0:13:46.120 Chicago Public Library and you rose up to be the 0:13:46.240 --> 0:13:50.400 chief librarian. I went back to Chicago also did a 0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:54.000 stint at the Museum of Science and Industry, and that 0:13:54.280 --> 0:13:58.720 was really helpful because I worked more with the curators, 0:13:58.720 --> 0:14:03.200 but also opening up a public library in a museum. 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:06.520 So we're in Chicago. You met two people. Did they 0:14:06.559 --> 0:14:09.559 borrow a lot of books of Barack and Michelle Obama? 0:14:09.559 --> 0:14:12.840 Where they did they ever have overdue fines or anything? 0:14:12.880 --> 0:14:16.280 Well, we could never tell if they did. But what 0:14:16.520 --> 0:14:21.440 happened was when I went back, the person that was 0:14:21.680 --> 0:14:25.640 the administrator for the city of Chicago that had in 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:31.520 her portfolio the public library was Michelle Robinson, and I 0:14:31.560 --> 0:14:34.880 got to know her because she was responsible as a 0:14:34.920 --> 0:14:39.040 deputy mayor type of position. And then she got engaged 0:14:39.160 --> 0:14:44.720 to this gentleman who had an interesting name. And I 0:14:44.880 --> 0:14:48.320 was recruited to head up the Baltimore Library. And so 0:14:48.440 --> 0:14:50.520 in that July I missed the wedding. 0:14:51.000 --> 0:14:53.760 Oh whatever happened to him, he did well. 0:14:53.960 --> 0:14:59.280 It was so interesting too that years later I would 0:14:59.360 --> 0:15:03.520 be sitting almost like this in the Oval Office being 0:15:03.680 --> 0:15:08.000 interviewed by the President of the United States, because that's 0:15:08.040 --> 0:15:11.160 the person who nominates the library to Congress. 0:15:11.600 --> 0:15:12.240 And it's that. 0:15:13.760 --> 0:15:16.080 So you already knew them. But let's talk about Baltimore. 0:15:16.080 --> 0:15:18.640 You went to my hometown in Baltimore, where the library 0:15:18.720 --> 0:15:22.080 system is called the inocaprat Free Library System, and you 0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:24.520 became the head library and there for twenty two years. 0:15:24.560 --> 0:15:25.320 Twenty two years. 0:15:25.520 --> 0:15:28.040 Hey, so you're the head library for twenty two years 0:15:28.040 --> 0:15:31.160 in Baltimore. And then the President of the United States 0:15:31.680 --> 0:15:36.040 has the responsibility to nominate for Senate confirmation the Library 0:15:36.120 --> 0:15:39.000 of Congress. I went members of Congress nominate the Library 0:15:39.000 --> 0:15:41.040 of Congress since it's a Congress thing. 0:15:41.280 --> 0:15:46.960 Believe it started with Lincoln, and that it would be 0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:53.480 a position that the President would nominate similar to a 0:15:53.520 --> 0:15:57.400 Supreme Court justice, and that it was that type of position, 0:15:58.000 --> 0:16:03.400 and so you still have to be confirmed by the Senate. 0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:05.400 And I went through that process. 0:16:05.520 --> 0:16:08.600 So you interviewed with President Obama and he said, do 0:16:08.600 --> 0:16:11.080 you want to be Library of Congress? And I guess 0:16:11.120 --> 0:16:12.160 you said you were interested. 0:16:12.600 --> 0:16:16.880 I was concerned about what I could bring to the 0:16:16.960 --> 0:16:21.320 position because I had been so involved with public libraries 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:25.160 public access all of that career, but I never thought 0:16:25.240 --> 0:16:30.440 of actually being part of the Library Congress because of 0:16:30.760 --> 0:16:33.960 what the perception was that it was mainly for scholars. 0:16:33.960 --> 0:16:37.160 It was that, And so what President Obama asked me 0:16:37.560 --> 0:16:41.280 was he started it out with telling me that he 0:16:41.360 --> 0:16:44.480 had seen the contents of Abraham Lincoln's pockets the night 0:16:44.560 --> 0:16:48.480 he was assassinated. He had seen the first the draft 0:16:49.080 --> 0:16:52.600 reading copy of the Gettysburg Address at lincoln Ton. But 0:16:52.640 --> 0:16:54.640 he said at the Library of Congress. But he said, 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:58.440 I think that's because of my position, And he said, 0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:02.000 what could you do with your background to open up 0:17:02.040 --> 0:17:07.679 the Library of Congress to everyone? And that's what I 0:17:07.720 --> 0:17:10.320 thought and said to him, I think I can do that. 0:17:10.720 --> 0:17:12.800 So the government of the United States pays for the 0:17:12.840 --> 0:17:15.560 Library of Congress. But do you take donations or you 0:17:15.560 --> 0:17:17.200 do not interested in donations? 0:17:17.480 --> 0:17:23.040 Well, we have wonderful philanthropic support the James Madison Council. 0:17:23.119 --> 0:17:26.359 You've definitely have been the leader of that, and that's 0:17:26.400 --> 0:17:29.920 the philanthropic arm of the library. And so there are 0:17:30.000 --> 0:17:37.679 actual donations of cash that but also grants. The Mellon 0:17:37.760 --> 0:17:42.159 Foundation gave the library one of its largest grants ever 0:17:42.920 --> 0:17:47.240 to work with communities about their histories. And also we 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:51.240 just started a friends group. The Library of Congress had 0:17:51.240 --> 0:17:54.280 never had a friends group. And so at a certain 0:17:55.080 --> 0:17:57.320 level you can be a friend of the Library of 0:17:57.359 --> 0:18:02.160 Congress and then people give actual collectictions and collection items, 0:18:02.320 --> 0:18:05.800 and that's truly wonderful because we wouldn't be able to 0:18:05.880 --> 0:18:09.000 purchase some of the things that people have given us. 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:14.840 So let me ask you about the library itself today. 0:18:16.359 --> 0:18:18.200 How many employees do you have? 0:18:19.160 --> 0:18:22.760 Roughly thirty five hundred are They're not all librarians. Those 0:18:22.800 --> 0:18:27.840 are the people that you have, copyright lawyers, all types 0:18:27.880 --> 0:18:29.280 of people that work at the library. 0:18:29.320 --> 0:18:32.400 Car Now very often when I've seen Library of Congress employees, 0:18:32.440 --> 0:18:34.000 I asked them how long they've been here, and they 0:18:34.040 --> 0:18:36.840 sipicly say, oh, thirty five years. That's a long time. 0:18:36.880 --> 0:18:38.959 They say, no, somebody here is forty years. Somebody here 0:18:39.040 --> 0:18:41.280 is forty five years. Why don't people stay so long 0:18:41.280 --> 0:18:42.400 at the Library of Congress. 0:18:42.560 --> 0:18:44.400 They love it. One of the joys. 0:18:44.440 --> 0:18:49.800 It's like being in a university. They're like faculty members, 0:18:49.920 --> 0:18:55.080 and there are subject experts in whatever subject you have. 0:18:55.240 --> 0:18:58.520 The Library of Congress there collects in four hundred and 0:18:58.560 --> 0:19:02.600 seventy languages. Half of the collection is in languages other 0:19:02.680 --> 0:19:05.480 than English, and so the Middle Eastern division, you're going 0:19:05.560 --> 0:19:08.919 to have experts from the region who are from the 0:19:08.960 --> 0:19:10.640 region and speak. 0:19:10.560 --> 0:19:13.080 So today you've got thirty five hundred employees. Where do 0:19:13.080 --> 0:19:16.359 you get your money from? To library finds? I assume 0:19:16.400 --> 0:19:18.400 are not that big a part of your business. 0:19:18.600 --> 0:19:24.800 And this is where the accessibility for everyone comes into play, 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:28.720 because eighty five to ninety percent of the library's operating 0:19:28.800 --> 0:19:36.280 budget is from an appropriation from Congress, and that's taxpayer money. 0:19:36.920 --> 0:19:42.399 And so that's another reason why we're really just devoted 0:19:42.440 --> 0:19:45.520 to making sure people know that this is their library too. 0:19:46.160 --> 0:19:49.280 So it was a joint committee on the Library. 0:19:48.880 --> 0:19:55.960 For the library budget goes through the appropriations committees on 0:19:56.080 --> 0:19:59.880 both sides Senate and House, and then there are pol 0:20:00.640 --> 0:20:05.680 committees that help with the direction of the library itself, 0:20:05.800 --> 0:20:08.520 though budgeting gives you direction as well. 0:20:08.680 --> 0:20:10.560 What do you do when you're not being a library 0:20:10.600 --> 0:20:11.119 in a Congress? 0:20:11.200 --> 0:20:13.920 I always love to read, and so when I get 0:20:14.040 --> 0:20:17.000 some spare time, I can look at old New Yorkers 0:20:17.520 --> 0:20:19.600 and you know how they poll up. I could read 0:20:20.200 --> 0:20:24.920 a mystery. I love mysteries and biographies. 0:20:24.480 --> 0:20:26.320 But you don't go to any bookstores because you don't 0:20:26.320 --> 0:20:27.240 need to buy books too. 0:20:27.680 --> 0:20:32.560 You go to books to the Ivory Bookstore in Baltimore. 0:20:32.680 --> 0:20:38.000 And it's funny because now people are watching what I'm buying, 0:20:38.520 --> 0:20:39.920 so you have to be careful. 0:20:40.480 --> 0:20:43.480 So as we talk, this weekend is the National Book 0:20:43.520 --> 0:20:47.440 Festival Weekend. This has been going off for about twenty 0:20:47.440 --> 0:20:50.639 plus years or so. What actually happens at the National 0:20:50.640 --> 0:20:51.400 Book Festival. 0:20:51.680 --> 0:20:53.639 Oh, and it is a festival. 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:57.400 It's a one day event with over ninety authors now 0:20:57.440 --> 0:21:01.680 and it was started by first Lady Laura Bush, when 0:21:01.840 --> 0:21:06.200 my predecessor, when she came to Washington, she had started 0:21:06.280 --> 0:21:09.639 the Texas Book Festival. That's one of still one of 0:21:09.640 --> 0:21:12.680 the largest book festivals in the country. And they started 0:21:12.720 --> 0:21:16.359 it about twenty four years ago. And it when you 0:21:16.400 --> 0:21:19.479 think about what we have for young people and what 0:21:19.520 --> 0:21:22.840 we do for young people. There's an entire section that 0:21:23.160 --> 0:21:27.919 is going to feature interactive activities and authors for young people. 0:21:28.680 --> 0:21:33.520 Famous authors that we all know, Doris Currents, Goodwin, James McBride, 0:21:33.800 --> 0:21:37.400 James Patterson will be there. You'll be there, and it's 0:21:37.560 --> 0:21:42.399 just heartening when you we've just talked about illiteracy, and 0:21:42.440 --> 0:21:47.000 when you see all of these book lovers that are gathered, 0:21:47.080 --> 0:21:49.200 thousands and thousands of people. 0:21:49.000 --> 0:21:50.960 Who presidents of the United States have will come up 0:21:51.000 --> 0:21:52.960 and borrow a book, or they don't they're too busy 0:21:52.960 --> 0:21:54.280 to do that. They don't call you and say do 0:21:54.280 --> 0:21:55.280 you have this book or something. 0:21:55.280 --> 0:22:00.800 Well, we have had some good relations with the White 0:22:00.840 --> 0:22:04.320 House in terms of putting books on display for certain things, 0:22:04.359 --> 0:22:06.400 and we've been doing more of that recently. 0:22:06.720 --> 0:22:08.480 So what kind of books do you like to read? 0:22:08.520 --> 0:22:10.399 Are you non fiction. 0:22:10.359 --> 0:22:11.879 Or I mentioned mysteries. 0:22:12.160 --> 0:22:17.639 A big mystery fan because you feel some sense of satisfaction. 0:22:18.520 --> 0:22:18.880 With it. 0:22:19.200 --> 0:22:25.600 Someone usually gets killed, nobody cares, but and then it's solved. 0:22:25.800 --> 0:22:27.160 So that's very reassuring. 0:22:27.440 --> 0:22:30.840 So let's talk about the Library of Congress in the future. 0:22:31.880 --> 0:22:34.119 Let's say ten, twenty thirty years from now. Do you 0:22:34.119 --> 0:22:37.640 expect libraries like the Library Congress to be more relevant, 0:22:37.720 --> 0:22:42.120 less relevant, more technologically savvy, or about the same as now. 0:22:42.520 --> 0:22:45.679 They're going to be more technologically savvy, but they're also 0:22:45.800 --> 0:22:48.480 going to be and we're seeing it now. Even though 0:22:48.520 --> 0:22:52.840 there are some challenges in terms of what public libraries 0:22:52.840 --> 0:22:57.560 and school libraries offer They're going to be even more relevant. 0:22:57.080 --> 0:23:00.800 Because there's still trusted source of. 0:23:00.680 --> 0:23:06.119 Information and in the world of misinformation, who can you trust? 0:23:06.320 --> 0:23:09.040 What are those trusted sources? Libraries are still going to 0:23:09.040 --> 0:23:10.639 be places that people look to. 0:23:11.960 --> 0:23:14.480 Thanks for listening to hear more of my interviews. You 0:23:14.520 --> 0:23:18.639 can subscribe and download my podcast on Spotify, Apple, or 0:23:18.640 --> 0:23:19.480 wherever you listen.