Should get together with each other and say what do we want and then make it known and then illustrate by your example that you can have a home life and work life. One of my former had three young children, a day schedule. There happy with her work. She has a whole library of work at her fingertips at home. It should be much easier to have a balanced life that once was, but dont be shy about speaking up. Have company when you do so so you are not a lone voice. Thank you. [applause] thank you very much. Our civil rights leaders and great nicknames, all these wonderful things, and thanks everyone for coming. Enjoy the rest your week. [applause] book tv is on twitter and facebook. We want to hear from you. Treat us, twitter. Com book tv or post a comment on our facebook page, facebook. Com book tv. Doctor carla, can you remember the first moment that you were asked about being a librarian of congress. I can remember that moment because i was surprised. I had been advising and consulting because this was an opportunity for the Library Community to weigh in, basically , on what would be for the library of Congress Going into the next few decades, and so my name was put forward as a person they should talk to. That went on for a little while, and then, i was asked would you consider being considered for the position yourself. It took me back a little bit and then i had to think about what i was currently doing, Public Service, innercity, the state library, baltimore and marilyn, this was a very good situation. I had become a baltimoreans. I thought how can i go from serving a community to serving the country. What contribution could i make . Why did you say yes . Because when i really thought about the treasures and whats contained in the library of congress what i had been privy to as a librarian, what i knew knew was contained there, and how excited i always am, i love history and so, to be able to share that with more people was really the turning point for me, that its not just administering and doing something for the Worlds Largest library, but its an opportunity to make that library everyones library. That has the highest level. In fact, thats how the opportunity was presented to me, would you serve as the next librarian of congress. That is when it all came together for me. So when you first came to the library as the nominee, did you say to somebody here, i want to see that . What was it . I wanted to see Abraham Lincolns life mask. I had seen it years before and i was mistakingly telling people all those years that i had seen his death mask. Then i realized no, it was actually a rendering that he had four months before he was assassinated. I wanted to see that item again with the understanding that when that was cast, he was alive. My family from illinois have a couple personal shelves. I grew up with lincoln laura, my family is buried in the same cemetery that lincoln is buried and in springfield. That really resonated with me. What is the thing you like most about Abraham Lincoln . His integrity and his struggles. I loved reading more about it, the fact that he didnt come to some of these things that we admire so much about him now as easily as we thought, he had difficulties in his personal life. I mentioned springfield. We visited lincolns home on a regular basis, so, so to think about what was going on in the home and what he was as a child, all of these things. There was a human behind this person that did so much. I think thats what draws a lot of people to lincoln him what he accomplished. There is a book called bright april. What was the book in what year did you read it. You notice that when you even mention the title, i was, now this is where i talk about my age, but i was about seven or eight so around 1961 or so and i went to Grammar School in jamaica, queens, and right across the street was a library and i cant remember if a librarian gave me the book or anything like that, but i just know somehow this book, bright april was put in my hand and it was a book that featured a little africanamerican girl who was a brownie and at that time, i was a brownie. She had to pigtails and the beautiful watercolor pictures and illustrations showed a loving family, there was a piano in the living room, there was a thanksgiving dinner, all these things that just spoke to me as a child, to see myself reflected in the book, and i thought i looked like her. Now that i look at the book, she she was a little prettier, but it just meant so much to see what i thought reflected. Later when i started as a childrens librarian, i thought about diversity and childrens books. Children read books to have windows on the world. We all talk about that, to let them see something else, but they also need to see them as a mirror. They need to see themselves. If we want to see that books are important and books hold knowledge, if we dont see those as important things, what are we telling them. You grew up in the chicago area, without without it all that happened . Its interesting, we talked about my parents being musicians my father started the String Department at florida and am. I was born there. I found out that he liked Classical Music and jazz. He was classical by day and jazz at night. He connected with another musician. Some people know him as cannonball but he was downing cannonball too. Off they go to new york with my mom who is a classically trained pianist and me and next thing i met bird land sitting on a stool in the front having shirley temples, and that was quite an experience. My parents divorced when i was ten. I think that was just a little too much for my mom. Then we moved back to illinois. By the way, your moms with us and i want to know what you said to her when you called to say im going to be the librarian of congress. The first thing she said was your grandmother was right. My grandmother always said, as i progressed in the career of librarian, i never thought being a librarian would lead to this. My nickname was world good. Shes going to be a librarian. She has no musical talent so thats good. She was still amazed to think that my love of books, and all of this turned into something that required her to hold the lincoln bible and had me sworn in. Now that you brought it up, sitting right there on the table, the lincoln bible. My mother was very nervous about holding the lincoln bible. It symbolizes so much to not only our family but just what it meant, and she was very nervous about that because you are talking history, and this is something that a person used that you respect so much, and that connection, i have to say, that was something that i hope in my tenure i will be able to do more of, to connect connect people with rich history, to touch history digitally and to make sure they understand these were real people. How much do you read . Probably a little too much because i have matured in my eyesight has matured so i require stronger lenses. Im a reader that will read just about anything that has text. A cereal box, assign, Something Like, Something Like that. It took me years to really realize that i connected with text the same way my parents connected with notes and one day i said they can look at notes and hear music and i can look at text and hear words. Its almost the same thing. What do you read . I have a balcony where it could sit out and i found a reading chair and i can read in bed and i can read at the table, but usually, i can tell when im very tired if i cant reinvent. Thats the signal. When folks found out i was going to be talking with you, think three different people, for whatever reason want to know, our are you going to continue living in baltimore and commuting to washington . Yes and im looking forward to being a civilian in baltimore, but its a city that really grabs you. Its a city with 70 characters with so many characters and you get a sense when you read herb book of so many characters because it nurtures creativity and caring, i think . Host if you have to make a choice would you rather read fiction or non fiction . Guest thats a hard choice. However, i would go for nonfiction. I love history. Now, i can read all of those things, but i really like to read things like the queens bed, which is about Queen Elizabeth the first nl of the intrigue around that, so history can sometimes be more exciting, i think, then fiction. Host over time, what has been a couple of books in the history, nonfiction, that you liked . Guest no ordinary time. I really connect with orland eleanor roosevelt. I went to the only school founded by eleanor roosevelt. Host in chicago . Guest in chicago and is so to read doris kearns with history its like reading fiction and thats an the best type of history writing, sometimes. I heard her speak at the library. I got the book, read it that night and i could hear her speaking. Host all about fdr and the white house. Guest fdr and the white house and it was just wow. Host when did you first meet michelle and barack obama . Guest in chicago i was working and i had left the university of pittsburgh and was teaching and there had been certain times in my life where that do i continue an academic or go back to Public Service and this is one of those times and i had arrived back into chicago from pittsburgh to be the deputy commissioner, chief librarian of the Chicago Public library and the first lady was Michelle Robinson and working with the City Administration and so thats when i met her and then later her fiance and so that was something years later, to me in a professional setting in different roles. Host how important do you think that connection way back then in chicago led to your choice as a librarian . Guest im not sure if it led to the choice. I think it was probably one of the more ironic things to have a name put forward from a search. And yeah shes still a librarian, so but i had been part of the board, the institute of the museum library. Then part of the professional library setting. Host you say you want to Roosevelt University in chicago and got 8 00 a. M. A. M. Phd at the university of chicago. Guest yes, Library School. Host what was your dissertation about . Guest about serving young people. I was working at the museum of finance and industry in chicago, and i was working to open the first Public Service library in a Science Museum in the country and that was really interesting because most Museum Libraries are not open to the public. They are for the curators and educators and here we are going to open up a library, not a lending library, but let these visitors coming in and what were they going to do and that got me interested in not only special libraries, but also museums and is so i took some courses and things and started visiting museums and basically what i was saying at that time in the 80s is that libraries, Public Libraries in particular needed to use some of the methods that museums used to engage young people, the boston childrens museum, all these museums and now you can go into Public Libraries all over the country and to see play areas and see, not to just a books, but things as well. Host baltimore resident said to me when i was coming over to interview, she was terrific in baltimore with doing the kind of things you are just talking about their, the Community Stuff movie night, a fundraiser i guess you have black and white every year. Guest young people, dancing and being related in the library and connecting books and beer and all that coming yes, its quite something. Host when you went to baltimore 23 years ago, enoch Pratt Library, what is it, how a different branches . What did you do there that you were the most proud of . Guest in a Library School we studied the enoch Pratt Library. Arisen Innovative Library for years starting with mr. Pratt when he established its. He was a business person in baltimore at a time when the city was growing and he picked the free library to fund and he said my Library Shall be for all, rich or poor without distinction of that race or color and that was in 1886, in a city that had racial challenges. So, when i had the opportunity to go to the Pratt Library i did not know as much about to baltimore, but i knew the Pratt Library in the night learned baltimore and they are down 21 branches and everywhere i was i would go in baltimore people would have a Pratt Library story, people from all walks of life. So, what i most pleased about is that over the time i have been there we have revitalized those a Branch Libraries and we actually constructed the first of new library in that city in 35 years. Thats a lifetime and we even had all of the senior Staff Members bring in a photograph of themselves at either five to 10 years old and we made a poster, so that when we meet we said we would say what would a child now, say 35 years and now what pratt stories are we making. Thats why i stay in baltimore. Host how did you get adults in there that would normally not go to a library . Guest by making it relevant to their lives. There are a lot of people in the city that have basic life challenges. They need help information. They need to get to computers to file for jobs. Some need to file online and they. Com. Access to computers to do that. Flu shots, all types of things that bring people in and to make the library less intimidating a specially for people have challenges with literacy its the last place you want to go if you cant read well picked as the publics perception, so bringing in authors, popular programs was a way to get adults in and letting them know its a safer place for you, whatever level you are coming and not. Host as you came into the library of congress, 3200 employees . Guest yes. Host 607 milliondollar budget . Guest yes. Host what is the first thing you said you wanted to change . Guest it wasnt to so much changing, but keep it moving forward, and it is a wonderful book, a management book that i think about often about change and when you are changing or helping something move, its called teaching the elephant to dance. Now, i know you have to be careful, but thinking of a ship and how do you get it to move or be nimble and that things like that, so i really am excited about working with the Staff Members at the library of congress. They are really crackerjack, dedicated and so helping to be part of that because of this library has changed in so many ways the times. Host you come here under the new law that says a librarian can only serve for 10 years. The last librarian served almost for 30 years. Good idea that they shortened it . Guest there have been other librarians that have served even longer, 48 years, i think, was one, so different times in the librarys history. 10 years have been longer or shorter. Yet had lawyers, politicians, scholars, historians, authors along the way and, i think, at this point when theres someone he opportunities, but also challenges with technology and things are moving so rapidly to give an opportunity to step back and say where are we in 10 years. Ive been asked, what do you hope to have accomplished in 10 years. Digitize 162 million items, that would be something, so i think its healthy to look at an institution a different periods of time as. Host how much is digitized today . Guest im not sure, and thats even though i have just been sworn in and things and im still investigating, i went to get into the weeds with that and look and also i know that there are a number of collections, for instance, the rosa parks collection and to see the actual artifacts to work with the staff to say, how many things are Available Online and how many things are in the queue and im pretty sure there is a number of things, a number of whole collections that are ready and to see if we can match some of those collections with potential donors who would help with the process. Host this is a question for someone as never been for the library to the library of congress and doesnt have a clue to what they can see were due. I know one fun thing when i got my First Library of congress card guest people dont know that. Host what would use suggest to someone thats intimidated by the three big buildings . Guest and when you think about this temple of knowledge and information, i mean, it looks like a massive palace of information and to encourage people to come in is actually something i will be working on quite soon as to make sure the public knows that not only can they come in and see one of the only three copies of the gutenberg bible. Vacancy Thomas Jeffersons original library that helped start the library of congress at a crucial time and to really reach out to the public to let them know its difficult to put it into one type of thing, so we will be really working to say when you walk into the library what can you do. There is a Young Readers center and you can go into that. You can go into the Music Department and see sheet music from decades and hundreds of years ago, so thats a challenge because i think we need librarians talk about read more about it, i want the American Public in particular to know more about it, no more. Its congresses library, but its also americas library. Host say someone watching this and i want them to be able to walk in somewhere in this Library System and say doctor carla hayden told me to come here and ask you how to see what i want to see, where would you send them . Guest the first thing a person should do is to go up to a wonderful information desk and talk to the person that is there and there w