UPDATE: The Association For Research Libraries (ARL) has posted this separate announcement urging confirmation of Dr. Hayden. ARL is also a signatory on the letter posted below.

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Here’s the full text of the letter sent to the U.S. Senate Committee on Rules & Administration. This committee will conduct Dr. Hayden’s nomination hearing this afternoon.

How to Watch the Hearing Online

From the American Library Association

The Library of Congress has never more needed the unique combination of character, acumen and humanity that Dr. Carla Hayden is so professionally, intellectually and personally qualified to offer that great institution. We urge her earliest possible approval by the Rules Committee and rapid confirmation by the Senate,” said more than 20 leading national nonprofit organizations in the below letter.

Nonprofit supporters were also joined by two dozen educational institutions (ranging from community colleges to the Big Ten and Ivy League); two dozen academic libraries from every corner of the country; more than a score of national library groups; and virtually all of the nation’s state library associations. Organized by the American Library Association (ALA), of which Dr. Hayden is a past-president, the letter was transmitted late yesterday to the members of the Senate Rules Committee which today holds its confirmation hearing on her nomination to become America’s 14th Librarian of Congress.

The ALA letter of support reads:

United States Senate

Committee on Rules and Administration

305 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Chairman Blunt, Ranking Member Schumer and Members of the Committee:

We are organizations, societies, alliances and institutes from across the political spectrum. While we may differ in outlook and the matters of policy or legislation on which we focus, we write today with one voice. Specifically, we ask that the Rules Committee rapidly vote to recom­mend to the full Senate that Dr. Carla Hayden be confirmed immediately to serve as the nation’s 14th Librarian of Congress. For the first time in the two centuries, Congress has an opportunity to equip the Library and the nation with the unique combination of professional skills and sensibilities that Dr. Hayden will bring to the post.

First and foremost, Dr. Hayden is a proven leader. She was named a Ms. Magazine “Woman of the Year” in 2003 and again, just weeks ago, Fortune magazine numbered her among 50 individuals selected as the “World’s Greatest Leaders.” Fortune’s award citation expressly recognized her ability to bring “fresh leadership” to the venerable Library of Congress.

Further, Dr. Hayden is an accomplished manager, particularly of the kind of institutional technological change that the Library of Congress must rapidly prioritize and achieve if it is to fully serve the nation. Indeed, the President & CEO of the Internet Association noted upon her nomination that Dr. Hayden has “exactly the skills needed to modernize the digital infrastruc­ture of the Library of Congress.” We concur.

Finally and perhaps most importantly, as a long-time leader in the profession, Dr. Hayden deeply understands what a library at its best is and can be for every community of users – young and old, corporate and individual, rich and poor, “connected” or not – in our diverse and complicated country. That’s why, noting that “she has dedicated her career to making libraries vital to the fabric of our national life,” the Chairman of the National Endow­ment for the Humanities called Dr. Hayden “an inspired choice” for Librarian of Congress.

We respectfully submit that the Library of Congress has never needed more the unique combination of character, acumen and humanity that Dr. Carla Hayden is so profes­sionally, intellectually and personally qualified to offer that great institution. We urge her earliest possible approval by the Rules Committee and rapid confirmation by the Senate.

Thank you for scheduling her hearing before the Committee promptly. We look forward to working with you toward those ends, and with Dr. Hayden for many productive years to come.

Respectfully submitted,

NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

American Booksellers Association

American Historical Association

Authors Alliance

Bill of Rights Defense Committee/Defending Dissent Foundation

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

Center for Democracy and Technology

Constitutional Alliance

Electronic Frontier Foundation

Government Accountability Project

Harry Potter Alliance

National Coalition for Literacy

OpenTheGovernment.org

Organization for Transformative Works

PEN American Center

Public Knowledge

Reach Out and Read

Reading Is Fundamental

Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC)

Society of American Archivists

The OpenGov Foundation

The Sunlight Foundation

NATIONAL/REGIONAL LIBRARY ORGANIZATIONS

American Association of Law Libraries

American Association of School Librarians

American Library Association

Association of College and Research Libraries

Association for Library Collections & Technical Services

Association for Library Service to Children

Association for Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies

Association of Research Libraries

Association of Southeastern Research Libraries

Greater Western Library Alliance

Library Information Technology Association

Library Leadership & Management Association

New England Library Association

New Jersey Association of College and Research Libraries

Public Library Association

Reference and User Services Association

Southeastern Library Association

United for Libraries: Association of Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations

Urban Libraries Council

Urban Librarians Unite

Young Adult Library Services Association

EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

Agnes Scott College (Atlanta)

Appalachian State University (Boone, N.C.)

Bates College (Lewiston, Maine)

Clemson (S.C) University Libraries

Dartmouth College (Hanover, N.H.)

DePaul University (Chicago)

Goucher College (Baltimore)

Grand Valley State University (Allendale, Mich.)

Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, Ill.)

Missouri State University (Springfield, Mo)

Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.)

The Pennsylvania State University (State College, Pa.)

Rollins College (Winter Park, Fla.)

St. Charles Community College (Cottleville, Mo)

Santa Clara University (Santa Clara, Calif.)

Skidmore College (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.)

Trinity University (San Antonio)

University of Arkansas (Fayetteville, Ark.)

University of California, Los Angeles (Los Angeles)

University of Colorado Boulder (Boulder, Colo.)

University of Missouri-Kansas City (Kansas City, Mo.)

The University of New Orleans

Utica (N.Y.) College

Wake Forest University (Winston-Salem, N.C.)

ACADEMIC LIBRARIES

Appalachian State University Libraries (Boone, N.C.)

College of the Canyons Library (Santa Clarita, Calf.)

Denison University Libraries (Granville, Ohio)

Dominican University Graduate School of Library & Information Science (Lake Forest, Ill.)

Duquesne University Gumberg Library (Pittsburgh)

Florida State University Libraries (Tallahassee, Fla.)

The Furman University Libraries (Greenville, S.C.)

Georgia State University Library (Atlanta)

Georgetown University Library (Washington, D.C.)

Harvard Library (Cambridge, Mass)

Ithaca (N.Y.) College Library

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Libraries (Cambridge, Mass.)

Michigan Academic Library Association

Montana State University Library (Bozeman, Mont.)

Montgomery College Libraries (Rockville, Md.)

Montgomery College Paul Peck Humanities Institute (Rockville, Md.)

New York University Division of Libraries

Oregon State University Libraries and Press (Corvallis, Wash.)

The Rockefeller University Rita and Frits Markus Library (New York)

Rowan-Cabarrus Community College Learning Resource Centers (Salisbury, N.C.)

Temple University Libraries (Philadelphia)

University of Arizona Libraries (Tucson, Arz.)

University of California Council of University Librarians (11 campuses)

University of Kansas Libraries (Lawrence, Kan.)

STATE LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONS

Alabama Library Association

Alaska Library Association

Arizona Library Association

California Library Association

Colorado Association of Libraries

Connecticut Library Association

Delaware Library Association

District of Columbia Library Association

Florida Library Association

Georgia Library Association

Hawaii Library Association

Idaho Library Association

Illinois Library Association

Indiana Library Federation

Iowa Library Association

Kansas Library Association

Kentucky Library Association

Louisiana Library Association

Maine Library Association

Maryland Library Association

Massachusetts Library Association

Michigan Library Association

Minnesota Library Association

Mississippi Library Association

Missouri Library Association

Montana Library Association

Nebraska Library Association

Nevada Library Association

New Hampshire Library Association

New Jersey Library Association

New Mexico Library Association

New York Library Association

North Carolina Library Association

North Dakota Library Association

Ohio Library Council

Oklahoma Library Association

Oregon Library Association

Pennsylvania Library Association

Rhode Island Library Association

South Carolina Library Association

South Dakota Library Association

Tennessee Library Association

Texas Library Association

Utah Library Association

Vermont Library Association

Virginia Library Association

Washington Library Association

West Virginia Library Association

Wisconsin Library Association

Wyoming Library Association