In Conversation: Dr. Carla Hayden and Ray Suarez

The Library of Congress is home to some of the most valuable treasures and historical documents in the nation, perhaps the world. The NYU John Brademas Center's Young Leaders Network welcomed the Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden, and broadcast journalist Ray Saurez as they discussed the work of “the Nation’s Library” in providing public access to these resources. The conversation also focused on the importance of collecting physical information and materials in the modern digital age.

This event was free and open to the public. This event was filmed and photographed.

YOUTUBE MEDIA

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Carla Hayden was sworn in as the 14th Librarian of Congress on September 14, 2016. Hayden, the first woman and the first African American to lead the national library, was nominated to the position by President Barack Obama on February 24, 2016, and her nomination was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 13.

Extended bio

Prior to her latest post she served, since 1993, as CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Maryland. Hayden was nominated by President Obama to be a member of the National Museum and Library Services Board in January 2010 and was confirmed to that post by the Senate in June 2010. Prior to joining the Pratt Library, Hayden was deputy commissioner and chief librarian of the Chicago Public Library from 1991 to 1993. She was an assistant professor for Library and Information Science at the University of Pittsburgh from 1987 to 1991. Hayden was library services coordinator for the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago from 1982 to 1987. She began her career with the Chicago Public Library as the young adult services coordinator from 1979 to 1982 and as a library associate and children’s librarian from 1973 to 1979.

Hayden was president of the American Library Association from 2003 to 2004. In 1995, she was the first African American to receive Library Journal’s Librarian of the Year Award in recognition of her outreach services at the Pratt Library, which included an after-school center for Baltimore teens offering homework assistance and college and career counseling. Hayden received a B.A. from Roosevelt University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the Graduate Library School of the University of Chicago.

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Ray Suarez is an American broadcast journalist and the current John J. McCloy Visiting Professor of American Studies at Amherst College. Most recently, Suarez was the host of Inside Story on Al Jazeera America Story, a daily news program on Al Jazeera America.

Extended bio

Suarez joined the PBS NewsHour in 1999 and was a senior correspondent for the evening news program on the PBS television network until 2013. He is also host of the international news and analysis public radio program America Abroad from Public Radio International. He was the host of the National Public Radio program Talk of the Nation from 1993-1999.

In his more than 30-year career in the news business, Ray Suarez has worked as a radio reporter in London and Rome, as a Los Angeles correspondent for CNN, and as a reporter for the NBC-owned station WMAQ-TV in Chicago. He is currently co-host of the radio program WorldAffairs on KQED.

Founded in 2014 by the John Brademas Center of New York University and the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, the Young Leaders Network aims to promote in the next generation the spirit of public service as embodied for decades on Capitol Hill by John Brademas and Ted Kennedy.

By developing the Young Leaders Network (YLN), the NYU Brademas Center seeks to create programs that enrich the student experience while interning in Washington, DC. Students who participate in YLN programming build a network of peers and mentors while they begin laying the groundwork for a career in public service.

In Conversation: Dr. Carla Hayden and Ray Suarez

Uncovering the Treasures of the Library of Congress, the Nation’s Library

Event Photos

Dr. Carla Hayden

Ray Suarez

Young Leaders Network