The Senate voted 74-18 to confirm Carla D. Hayden to become the Librarian of Congress over the objections of some GOP conservatives.
Hayden currently heads the Baltimore public library. She’ll replace David S. Mao, who has served as acting librarian after James H. Billington retired in October.
Hayden will be the first female as well as the first African-American to serve as Librarian of Congress. Hayden is also the first nominee to be given a term limit — senators decided earlier this year to end the lifetime appointment and replace it with a ten-year limit.
Hayden is credited with overhauling the Baltimore public library and making it more accessible to the public.
“The Library of Congress will benefit from those skills,” said Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md.
President Obama nominated Hayden in February and her confirmation appeared stalled.
Heritage Action, a conservative group, put out a statement Wednesday opposing Hayden, calling her an “activist,” and urging Republicans to wait until after the November presidential election to pick a new librarian. According to Heritage, Hayden opposed mandatory filters on pornography in libraries that receive federal funding and led an effort to overturn the Child Internet Protection Act.
