the enoch pratt library. she kept the library go in and kept it open. children had a place to go and the community had a place together. when the program stopped because of fear coming into the neighborhood, they came to the library for so dr. hayden's leadership in the staff she think this is someone who rings a distinguished academic career and credentialed career and strong the school manager and fantastic human being. and i am honored to present her to you. >> thank you. much for beingry here and thank you for allowing maryland to have three united states senators today. >> with unanimous consent, that he made permanent. [laughter] with senator mikulski and the strongest work of dr. hayden. we know she will do an incredible job at the library of congress and it is great to be here with senator survey into is taken a great interest in the library and has been a great champion of these issues in our state and nation. with people from our community dr. hayden has worked today's hearing is well-timed. sunday marks the 216th anniversary of the creation o

could you tell us a little bit about enoch pratt? his name is everywhere. they said he was a merchant but that's -- >> he did quite well at being a merchant. >> he sure did. >> enoch pratt came from middleborough, massachusetts, to make his fortune in baltimore right around, right after the civil war, and he did quite well. he developed into a banker. and when andrew carnegie who's widely credited with -- and rightfully so -- establishing public libraries throughout the country, was not having such a good time at first. he heard about mr. pratt in baltimore and came and visited baltimore and mr. carnegie said later in his book "the gospel of philanthropy" he knew of no other public/private partnership that was better established than mr. pratt's. he said he wanted his library free of politics and religion and also free to all without distinction of race or color in 1886. and he gave $1 million. >> wow. >> 1886. >> wow. that's great. well, it's good to just know that little bit of historical knowledge. okay. my first question, as you know, library responsibi

she is currently ceo of the enoch pratt free library in baltimore. if confirmed doctor hayden would succeed james billington and become the first african-american woman to serve in the position. during hayden's congressional confirmation hearing this past week she laid out her vision for the future of the library of congress. >> as i envision the future of this wonderful institution, i see as stature, not only in librarianship, but how people view libraries in general. as lore of its resources are readily available portable people online, users will not have to be in washington dc, everyone will have a sense of ownership and pride in this national treasure. a child on a reservation in new mexico will have the same access of a high school student in st. louis, missouri. a fifth grader in bowling green, kentucky, will be able to read the abraham lincoln papers from his home computer and a shy 10th grader from mississippi with dreams of performing would be able to view the libraries at bernstein collection. a student from a community college in kansas c