Latest news with #NationalLibraryWeek
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Congressional Black Caucus: Trump will replace Hayden with ‘unqualified sycophant'
The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) issued a sharp rebuke of President Trump's decision to fire Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, accusing the administration of waging a war on truth. Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), chair of the caucus, said Hayden's firing was 'callous' and should not be taken lightly. 'This decision is the latest move in the Trump Administration's ongoing war against truth and our democratic values,' Clarke said in a statement. 'To make matters worse, the administration will likely attempt to replace Dr. Hayden with an unqualified sycophant who is more committed to Donald Trump than the independence of the institution.' She continued: 'We cannot allow the Trump Administration to whitewash our history and replace facts with fiction. This decision cannot stand without explanation.' Hayden, confirmed in 2016, was the first woman and the first African American to be librarian of Congress. Her term was set to expire next year. 'Libraries are the great equalizer,' Hayden said in a video posted to social media during National Library Week last month. Free public libraries, she added, create an 'opportunity center for people of all walks of life, and you are giving them the opportunity to make choices on which information, entertainment and inspiration means the most to them.' But the conservative American Accountability Foundation, which has thrown its support behind Trump, had accused Hayden of being 'woke, anti-Trump' and someone who 'promotes trans-ing kids.' 'It's time to get her OUT and hire a new guy for the job!' the group posted on social media, just hours before Hayden's firing was made public. The group also suggested appointing Secretary of State Marco Rubio to the position. Later, the organization responded to the news with 'Thank you @POTUS.' In addition to the CBC, other Democratic leaders also expressed outrage over Hayden's firing. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) called the termination an 'unjust decision.' He added that the email sent to Hayden by 'a random political hack is a disgrace and the latest in his ongoing effort to ban books, whitewash American history and turn back the clock.' The CBC said it is now calling on every Republican to 'stand up and defend the integrity of the Library of Congress.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
09-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Congressional Black Caucus: Trump will replace Hayden with ‘unqualified sycophant'
The Congressional Black Caucus issued a sharp rebuke of President Trump's decision to fire Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, accusing the administration of waging a war on truth. Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), chair of the caucus, said Hayden's firing was 'callous' and should not be taken lightly. 'This decision is the latest move in the Trump Administration's ongoing war against truth and our democratic values,' Clarke said in a statement. 'To make matters worse, the administration will likely attempt to replace Dr. Hayden with an unqualified sycophant who is more committed to Donald Trump than the independence of the institution.' She continued: 'We cannot allow the Trump Administration to whitewash our history and replace facts with fiction. This decision cannot stand without explanation.' Hayden, confirmed in 2016, was the first woman and the first African American to be librarian of Congress. Her term was set to expire next year. 'Libraries are the great equalizer,' Hayden said in a video posted to social media during National Library Week last month. Free public libraries, she added, create an 'opportunity center for people of all walks of life, and you are giving them the opportunity to make choices on which information, entertainment and inspiration means the most to them.' But the conservative American Accountability Foundation, which has thrown its support behind Trump, had accused Hayden of being a 'woke, anti-Trump, and promotes trans-ing kids.' 'It's time to get her OUT and hire a new guy for the job!' The group posted on social media, just hours before Hayden's firing was made public. The group also suggested appointing Secretary of State Marco Rubio to the position. Later, the organization responded to the news with a, 'Thank you @POTUS.' In addition to the CBC, other Democratic leaders also expressed outrage over Hayden's firing. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries calling the termination an 'unjust decision.' He added that the email sent to Hayden by 'a random political hack is a disgrace and the latest in his ongoing effort to ban books, whitewash American history and turn back the clock.' The CBC said it is now calling on every Republican to 'stand up and defend the integrity of the Library of Congress.'
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
National Library Week: GPL talks free services to all ages, education, and funding challenges
GOSHEN — Goshen Public Library is celebrating National Library Week with fun events, but also with an eye toward funding challenges. This special week so far has seen informational social media posts, promotion of their free events, encouragement of the issuing of library cards, and promotion of digital content available through the library. Grace Thomas, Development and Community Engagement manager at the Goshen Public Library, had a lot to say on current and upcoming events for both adults, children, and families to enjoy for free. Thomas said that she is leading a digital literacy class in which adults can learn the basic functions of Word, Excel, and other digital programs. 'We're teaching digital literacy workshops, so computer basics,' she said. 'To adults in English and Spanish and again, they are totally free. We've been doing it since February. We were lucky enough to get a small grant from the American Library Association for that.' Thomas said that the class can teach up to 10 participants and have had quite a few workshops with good participation. 'It's been really fun to see people get so excited about something that they're learning, that's going to be applicable to their life, and they cannot believe that it's free,' she said. 'Anytime I get to tell somebody that, it's the best day ever.' The library prides itself in the ability of offering free programs for people of all ages. They also encourage parents to learn about internet safety, password management and overall information that will help them better monitor their kids who may use the internet or even themselves. Among the workshops held at the library, they also offer family nights, once a month to participate in a themed activity. 'Our family nights are focused on being culturally relevant to our Hispanic community and things that parents and kids can do together,' Thomas said. 'And so we found that it is something that people really engage with. 'Last month was International Women's Day and we invited the mayor to come speak and read a story to the kids, which was really fun and Sandra Rodriguez McMasters, which was lovely.' Participation has been great, Thomas emphasized and the library remains a tool for people in the city of Goshen, but it is not repellant to the changes statewide and federally. These changes will be challenging, but the library's leaders are committed to making the best of any challenges they may face, she said. 'Goshen is really supportive of its library, which we appreciate as much as all other public libraries,' Thomas said. 'In terms of funding challenges, libraries are kind of facing this pressure on funding from a couple different sources at once. 'Recently, the president issued an executive order that essentially halted the functioning of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which is a federal organization that supports museums and libraries across the country,' Thomas explained. 'So they put staff on administrative leave and IMLS distributed funding to state libraries and then state libraries distributed funding to local libraries,' she said. 'Without that support, a lot of libraries will lose a good chunk of their budget that they have relied on for years.' She continued, 'Locally, the way that that looks for us is we receive funding from the Indiana State Library and IMLS for things that we share across the state. So if you've ever heard of the inspired databases, other research databases, and Libby, those will be impacted.' Thomas went on to explain the direct effects of the executive orders being passed such as the courier system that carries books and other materials between libraries for Inter-Library Loan, which is funded by the State Library. But these changes are on a federal level; there is more to come at a state level. 'The newest fiscal notes aren't out yet, but libraries are looking at a loss in revenue over the next few years as well as any other taxing bodies, like schools and city governments. SB1 also passed, which reforms property tax in the state and libraries are funded mostly through property tax,' Thomas said. 'We don't know exactly what that's going to look like yet, but it could be something that we're going to have to pay a lot of attention to.' She also mentioned Senate Bill 1 being passed and raising more concerns for the Goshen Library that would cut their budget by 30%, which means services will be lost. Thomas said they're unsure what's to come but their game plan is to keep the community informed and continue to find ways to serve the community despite funding changes. 'Since this is National Library Week, we put together a very small social media campaign where we did one post every day and it was highlighting either a challenge or a benefit of something that you can interact with at the library,' she said. 'We also mentioned funding challenges and showed what you get with that money when the money is granted, such as access to digital materials,' she said. 'One of the really interesting posts was asking staff how much money they saved if they had purchased the materials that they accessed through the library over the last year. I think my number was like $5,000 over the last couple years if I had bought all the materials that I used from the library for free.' Thomas knows there are shifts and changes coming their way but she invites the community to continue to use them as a resource and a place where everyone can have fun and learn together. 'Just come to the library,' she urged. 'We want people to feel comfortable and welcome in the building. This is their space and they should use it and we're happy to help guide them along the way.'
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Northumberland mayor proclaims National Library Week in the borough
NORTHUMBERLAND — Northumberland Borough Mayor Dan Berard issued a proclamation declaring National Library Week through Saturday in the borough. 'During the week I encourage all residents to visit the Priestley Forsyth Library, explore its resources and celebrate all the ways that the library draws us together as a community,' Berard said. — RICK DANDES
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
American Library Association challenges Trump cuts in court, as libraries face new tests
Ordinarily, the annual National Library Week does not generate significant attention from political writers, but this year is not like most. Indeed, National Library Week 2025 included an important new lawsuit from the American Library Association. The New York Times reported: The American Library Association and a union representing more than 42,000 cultural workers nationwide have filed a lawsuit contesting the Trump administration's deep cuts to the federal agency that supports the nation's libraries. ... The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday by the library association and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, came days after the Institute for Museum and Library Services dismissed most of its staff of 70, fired its board and began informing state library agencies that their grants had been cut. As my MSNBC colleague Ja'han Jones explained last week, the Trump administration, by way of Elon Musk's DOGE initiative, gutted the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which funds museums, archives and libraries around the country. This week's lawsuit is seeking an injunction to reverse Team Trump's cuts and halting 'any further steps to dissolve the agency,' arguing that it's up to Congress, not DOGE, to dismantle an agency created by lawmakers nearly 30 years ago with bipartisan support. As The New Republic recently noted, local libraries are mostly funded by local tax dollars, but these libraries do receive federal funds for things like employee training and technology updates. A USA Today report added that local libraries have relied on grants from the IMLS to fund everything from summer reading programs to programs that provide books to those with disabilities. The more the Trump administration succeeds in hollowing out the IMLS, the more local institutions and the people who rely on them will suffer. 'Libraries play an important role in our democracy, from preserving history to providing access to government information, advancing literacy and civic engagement, and offering access to a variety of perspectives,' American Library Association President Cindy Hohl said in a statement. 'These values are worth defending. We will not allow extremists to threaten our democracy by eliminating programs at IMLS and harming the children and communities who rely on libraries and the services and opportunities they provide,' she added. It comes against a backdrop of extraordinary and unusual challenges that face libraries at multiple levels. In response to an order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, for example, the U.S. Naval Academy's Nimitz Library removed 381 books, including Maya Angelou's 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings' and books on the Holocaust. Similarly, on-base school libraries have also been directed to remove books from shelves that don't meet with Team Trump's approval. Around the same time, NBC News reported that officials in California, Connecticut and Washington have been notified that the Trump administration has terminated funding the states rely on to operate many local libraries. This week, meanwhile, the Mississippi Library Commission scrubbed academic research from a database used by state libraries, targeting research collections focused on 'race relations' and 'gender studies.' Voters might not have realized last fall that the election would launch this kind of systematic offensive against libraries, but that's precisely what the public is now receiving. This article was originally published on
