Librarian of Congress nominee Carla Hayden

Through an embedded video, U.S. President Barack Obama introduces his nominee for the Librarian of Congress. Carla Hayden, CEO of Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Maryland, describes libraries as “opportunity centers,” places where children can get the latest Harry Potter and adults are able to apply for jobs through public-access computers. She describes the Library of Congress as “America’s library,” and her vision for the Library of Congress is an inclusive place that is part of everybody’s story.

ESSA includes favorable library provisions

President Obama signs the ESSA. Photo credit: U.S. White House

President Barack Obama has signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), and American Library Association (ALA) President Sari Feldman credited ALA members’ advocacy efforts with favorable provisions for school libraries.

Inauguration was high-profile moment for poetry

Among ceremonies and pomp surrounding the inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama for his second term, the news that resonated most with me was that Obama’s inauguration would be a high-profile moment for poetry.

In the words of Yale University professor and poet Elizabeth Alexander as quoted by Digital First Media, “[W]e bring the nation’s great poets, musicians and singers to Washington, D.C., for an outdoor celebration of democracy in the middle of January.”