iSchool Dean Allen Renear presented Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden with her honorary degree at the University of Illinois Commencement on May 11, 2019. Below are his remarks and the video from commencement.
Carla Diane Hayden, librarian, administrator, public servant. Your dedication to equity of access to information has carried you to the highest positions in the field of library and information services. Your early work as a children’s librarian for the Chicago Public Library ignited a career-long passion for enhanced information services to youth.
As director of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, you transformed a deteriorating library system into a vital community service agency. During the 2015 Baltimore riots, you famously kept the libraries open to create safe spaces and continuing access for all residents.
You were elected president of the American Library Association, where you led the creation of the Spectrum Scholarship program to help underrepresented students become the next generation of leaders in libraries. And you led the successful challenge of the government’s attempt under the Patriot Act to gain unwarranted access to users’ library records, for which you were named Ms. Magazine’s 2003 Woman of the Year and recognized with the Ala’s top honor, the Joseph W. Lippincott Award.
You are the first woman and first African American Librarian of Congress, where you are raising awareness of the Library as a treasured national resource, enhancing its Young Readers program, and increasing access to materials through new technologies.
In recognition of your work to protect freedom of information and your commitment to equity in access to information, and upon the recommendation of the Senate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, it is an honor to present you to the President of the University for the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.