Carla Hayden Joins Mellon Foundation After Trump Firing \ Newslooks \ Washington DC \ Mary Sidiqi \ Evening Edition \ Former Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden joins the Mellon Foundation as a senior fellow after her dismissal by President Trump. Hayden will advise on public knowledge initiatives amid growing threats to intellectual freedom. Her new role revives debates over politics, libraries, and cultural equity.
Quick Looks
- Carla Hayden fired by President Trump returns to public cultural work.
- Mellon Foundation appoints Hayden senior fellow for public knowledge efforts.
- Hayden was accused of promoting “radical” literature by conservative groups.
- Her dismissal sparked national debate on censorship and federal arts roles.
- Mellon responds to arts funding cuts with $15M emergency grant.
- Hayden vows to defend intellectual freedom and cultural access.
- Mellon backs anti-book ban campaigns and librarian scholarships.
- Hayden’s past includes modernizing Library of Congress and outreach programs.
- Todd Blanche, Trump’s former attorney, now acting Librarian of Congress.
Deep Look
After being abruptly fired by President Donald Trump, former Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden has reemerged in a prominent cultural leadership role, reigniting national debate over the politicization of public knowledge institutions. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, America’s largest private funder of the arts and humanities, has appointed Hayden as a senior fellow, placing her at the forefront of a cultural and political battlefield she knows well.
Hayden’s new one-year fellowship at the Mellon Foundation will focus on advancing public access to information through libraries, archives, and cultural institutions. Her appointment is more than symbolic — it directly counters the ideological campaign that led to her dismissal. Conservative groups targeted Hayden, accusing her of promoting “radical” literature and advancing liberal agendas during her time as Librarian of Congress. The Trump administration acted swiftly on those claims, ending Hayden’s historic tenure — she was the first woman and the first African American to hold the position — before the scheduled conclusion of her 10-year term in 2026.
Now, with the Mellon Foundation publicly embracing her leadership and values, Hayden is returning to the national spotlight amid a deepening culture war. In a statement to the Associated Press, she expressed concern over growing threats to intellectual freedom and the free exchange of ideas. “Libraries, archives, and cultural institutions have long served as the guardians of knowledge and the catalysts for human progress,” Hayden said. “Together, we will work to strengthen the public knowledge ecosystem and ensure that the transformative power of information remains accessible to all.”
This mission is especially urgent as the U.S. faces mounting challenges to public information systems. Across the country, school boards, state legislatures, and advocacy groups have intensified efforts to remove books from libraries, ban educational content, and restrict funding for public knowledge initiatives. Hayden’s new role at Mellon places her at the heart of a foundation that is actively responding to these threats.
In recent years, the Mellon Foundation has stepped up its commitment to cultural equity. It launched a $15 million emergency relief fund to help state humanities councils recover from steep federal cuts — a response to the $65 million reduction in funding that would have supported community book fairs, historical festivals, and theater productions. The foundation has also backed programs combatting censorship, such as the American Library Association’s campaigns against book bans and efforts to diversify the library profession through scholarships and leadership development for librarians of color.
Hayden’s background aligns seamlessly with Mellon’s mission. Before her 2016 appointment by President Barack Obama, she served over 20 years as CEO of Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Free Library system, where she championed community access, technological innovation, and civic engagement. As Librarian of Congress, she oversaw a period of major transformation — digitizing vast sections of the library’s archive, expanding outreach to rural communities, and launching public campaigns to make the Library of Congress more accessible to everyday Americans.
One of her most notable moments came in 2022 when she invited pop star Lizzo to perform at the Library of Congress using a historic crystal flute once owned by President James Madison. While the moment went viral and was celebrated by many, it also became a lightning rod for conservative criticism — a pattern that would define much of Hayden’s tenure. For her supporters, the performance embodied a commitment to making history tangible and relevant; for her detractors, it signaled politicization of the institution.
Following her dismissal, Hayden’s absence was quickly filled by acting Librarian of Congress Todd Blanche, a Trump ally and former defense attorney who represented the President in his 2024 criminal trial. The contrast in leadership styles and backgrounds between Hayden and Blanche is stark, and emblematic of the wider cultural shift under Trump’s renewed administration.
Mellon Foundation President Elizabeth Alexander lauded Hayden’s appointment, calling her “a leader with an unshakable regard for the public good of the American people.” Alexander emphasized that public knowledge institutions now face “historic challenges and transformative advances,” including censorship movements, shrinking federal budgets, and the rise of technologies such as artificial intelligence, which complicate access, authenticity, and equity in information distribution.
Hayden’s role is expected to influence not only grantmaking strategies but also the national dialogue about who controls cultural memory, whose stories are preserved, and how Americans understand their collective past. Her presence at Mellon will likely inspire other institutions to take stronger stances on intellectual freedom, public access, and the political neutrality of libraries and archives.
Her academic and professional credentials only reinforce her stature. A graduate of Roosevelt University and the University of Chicago, Hayden is a member of the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her legacy as a champion of democratic access to information remains one of the most transformative in the modern history of American librarianship.
Now, as she reenters public service from a philanthropic perch, Carla Hayden is poised to continue shaping the future of cultural and intellectual life in the United States — not from a government podium, but from a foundation committed to restoring balance, fairness, and accessibility in a deeply polarized era.
Carla Hayden Joins
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