Schomburg Musings...

Last night I attended a very special event at the Schomburg Center.   Director Kevin Young was in conversation with the  14th Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden (who is the first woman and first African American to hold the prestigious post) and Pulitzer Prize winner, 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States and Princeton professor,  Tracy K. Smith.

The conversation focused on the importance of libraries, the gifts they offer communities and the librarians who offer hope and the jewels of history they share.  

I truly felt as if we were all sitting in the living room having an inter-generational family conversation about how the library digital age is making information, artifacts, film and music more accessible to all people.  

Perhaps that is one of the greatest gifts of the Schomburg Center, not only is it a National Historic Landmark and an historical repository, it is also a hub for community discussions,  exhibitions and networking.  If you don't already have your Schomburg Society membership, I hope you will consider taking out a membership! 

Spcial Kudos to all members of the NYPL and Schomburg Team including Kevin M., Novella, Brian, Rochelle, Khalilah, and all of the wonderful staff and volunteers!

Always, Melony 

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Who's Who...

Kevin Young is the Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, newly named a National Historic Landmark, and Poetry Editor of the New Yorker.

Tracy K. Smith (born April 16, 1972) is an American poet and educator. She is currently serving as the 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States, an office she assumed in 2017. She has published four collections of poetry, winning the Pulitzer Prize for her 2011 volume Life on Mars. 

From Library of Congress Website...

Dr. 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.

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.