On May 8th, 2025 the Trump administration abruptly fired Dr. Carla Hayden, the 14th Librarian of Congress. Hayden was the first woman AND African American to lead this library. During her tenure, she led the library’s digitization efforts and made their collections more accessible to the American public.

Some might wonder why libraries are important and why shutting down the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is such a big deal.