Do NOT Mess with Librarians
What's Happening at the Library of Congress and Copyright Registry
I mean, honestly, of all the fights to pick—librarians are ready for this moment. They’ve read every history book, took careful notes, have on comfy shoes, and packed an extra cardigan in case they need it.
On May 8, the Trump administration abruptly fired Dr. Carla Hayden, the 14th Librarian of Congress—the first woman and first Black person in that role. Dr. Hayden was in her ninth year of a ten-year appointment that is not renewable; she would have been retiring from the role in 2026.
In 2021, Dr. Hayden led the “Of the People: Widening the Path” program, which received Mellon funding and is a “multi-year initiative that creates new opportunities for more Americans to engage with the Library of Congress and to add their perspectives to the Library’s collections, allowing the national library to share a more inclusive American story.” Clearly a “more inclusive American story” was the threat that the White House was trying to eliminate.
A few facts you should know: the Library of Congress is the home of the Congressional Research Service, which provides nonpartisan resources and data for the members of Congress—they often rely on this independent analysis in setting legislative direction, which means it’s a conflict of interest for a White-House-appointed official to be over the data and analysis that informs another branch of government. It also the home of the US Copyright Office (this is going to be an important detail).
It is the largest library in the world. You cannot go into the Library of Congress and take out a book; a research library means all of the books and films and other items (literally millions of items) remain in the library. No one under the age of 16 can even access its resources.
Which is what makes White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s statement in a May 9 press conference about why Dr. Hayden was abruptly fired so bonkers: “There were quite concerning things she had done at the Library of Congress in the pursuit of DEI and putting inappropriate books in the library for children, and we don’t believe she was serving the interest of the American taxpayer well, so she has been removed from her position.”
The things that were “quite concerning” were expanding the story of US history so that everyone is represented in the research library that archives the story of our country. There are no “inappropriate books in the library for children.” Again, this is a RESEARCH LIBRARY where children are not allowed. There is a children’s reading room, but only someone with zero experience in a library would think Dr. Hayden—in charge of the largest library in the world—was hand-selecting books for the children’s reading room. It was clearly a disingenuous reason to fire one of the most qualified Librarians of Congress in US history.
The Library Journal has an incredible write up of what happened and Dr. Hayden’s tenure at the LOC. They quote the two-sentence email she received from the Deputy Director of Presidential Personnel Trent Morse:
“Carla, [the GALL to address Dr. Hayden as ‘Carla’] on behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as the Librarian of Congress is terminated effective immediately. Thank you for your service.”
After nine years of exceptional service in a bipartisan capacity at a job that could NOT have been easy, that’s all the notification Dr. Hayden received.
They were just getting started.
On Saturday, May 10, the Trump administration fired Shira Perlmutter, the Register of Copyrights. CBS News reported that the firing came after “Perlmutter and her office earlier this week issued part three of a lengthy report about artificial intelligence and expressed some concerns and questions about the usage of copyrighted materials by AI technology.” The article quotes Rep. Joe Morelle (D, New York) that it was “surely no coincidence” that the administration “acted less than a day after [Perlmutter] refused to rubber-stamp Elon Musk's efforts to mine troves of copyrighted works to train AI models.”
The Writers Guild of America East released a statement that Perlmutter was “unlawfully fired.” They’re one of many groups saying that letting these officials go was a blatant power move to clear the way to the Library of Congress’s data in order to train AI models.
In March, The Atlantic reported that Meta illegally pirated millions of books—including mine—to train their AI. Tech leaders must be salivating at the chance of getting their hands on the largest library in the world.
But first, they’ll have to get through the librarians.
One big question in all of this is: can the Trump administration just fire people appointed by Congress and then replace them with Trump loyalists?
They certainly seem to think so. Trump appointed Todd Blanche who, according to Neda Ulaby at NPR, “served as one of Trump's personal lawyers, leading the defense in last year's criminal trial in which the President was found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal a payment to an adult film star.” Blanche is currently the Deputy Attorney General of the US; he has never worked in a library.
Around 9:00 am on May 12, according to Maya C. Miller and Devlin Barrett at the New York Times, two men—Brian Nieves and Paul Perkins—tried to get into the US Copyright Office. They held a letter from the White House saying that Blanche “was the acting librarian and that he had selected the two men for top roles at the agency.” Nieves was supposed to be acting assistant librarian, and Perkins the acting Register of Copyrights and Director of the Copyright Office.
The Library of Congress staff members told them no. The men insisted they should be allowed to enter. The LOC staff called the US Capitol Police and their lawyer, Meg Williams. The lawyer walked the two men to the door. They left.
The LOC staff said that they had already chosen Robert Newlen to step into Dr. Hayden’s role for now. And as the Library of Congress, they’re awaiting word from Congress.
The New York Times article quotes Robert Newlen’s statement: “Currently, Congress is engaged with the White House, and we have not yet received direction from Congress about how to move forward. We will share additional information as we receive it.”
Newlen signed the statement the “acting librarian of Congress.”
No one is sure what happens next. Will Trump’s people force their way into power?
Will the tech companies get access to the treasure trove of data that would greatly expand AI—illegally, at the cost of copyright law?
Will the librarians be able to hold the line? Because if not, two massive things are at stake:
First, Trump-appointed officials will have control over data and resources informing Congress’s decisions. As Faith Williams and Tim Stretton wrote for the Project on Government Oversight, “Now that the library’s top official is ultimately responsible to the executive branch, the confidential and nonpartisan support the library provides for congressional offices is threatened.”
Second, Elon Musk and others might get unfettered access to the Library of Congress data if the Copyright Office is weakened.
So far, the future of our democracy and the increasingly delicate balance of powers between the branches seems to be in the hands of the librarians. So far, Robert Newlen and the Library of Congress staff are holding strong.
But this will be up to Congress to decide. If they allow Trump to fire Dr. Hayden and Ms. Perlmutter and take over the Library of Congress, then it will only be the beginning.
I often say in “The Beautiful and Banned” that libraries are the honeybees of a functioning democracy—we know we’re in trouble when they come after the libraries.
They just fired our queen bee.
Call your representatives today.
For more about this:
I loved this Thread by @bookish_afrolatina laying the situation out so clearly in the earliest days; make sure to follow her.
I always love the work of Kelly Jensen at BookRiot for book censorship news, but her May 16 article includes a flow chart about the LOC and I’m in love.
What’s happening at the LOC is also the subject of the latest episode of “The Beautiful and Banned.” We were not able to release an episode this week (I explain more in my short message today) but have a new one coming soon.
i hadn’t heard this news about the LOC and the copyright office. this is insane. i’m astonished that trump’s lackeys can’t see that they are standing on the wrong side of history. thank you for your thorough reporting 🤍
Until this week’s “Interlude” episode, I hadn’t realized how minimally I’d been following the LOC situation beyond the news about the horrid notification that Dr. Hayden received. I appreciate all of this insight, Jessica — especially under the personal circumstances. I’m grateful and thankful that all is relatively well with you and yours.