The New Dark Age

The Trump administration has launched an attack on knowledge itself.

The Atlantic

Steam-cleaned carpets, dyed landscaping mulch, & cooked steak for mom and me.

Now, relax, watch pointless TV, & give back to those fallen or long deceased service members: I'm a citizen archivist for the Library of Congress.

Donating my time in transcribing Revolutionary War records. Honestly, this would be a dream job for me if there were such a thing that would pay the bills. #Boost

#Archivist #LibraryOfCongress #Library #Archival #Records #Transcriptionist #Genealogy #Genealogist

ROBERT NEWLAN IS A STEELY-EYED MISSILE MAN!

Damn, those librarians are BADASSES! 👏🏻

#DONOTCOMPLY !
#LibraryOfCongress
#myHeroes

https://www.thedailybeast.com/library-of-congress-staff-mount-standoff-against-new-bosses/

Library of Congress Staff Mount Standoff Against New MAGA Bosses

Two Justice Department officials who apparently had been appointed into two new top roles at the library were turned away Monday.

The Daily Beast

Trump Is Waging a Culture War on the Library of Congress. It’s Been Done Before. – Politico

History Dept.
Trump Is Waging a Culture War on the Library of Congress. It’s Been Done Before.

A visitor tours the Main Reading Room in the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress on Oct. 8, 2012. | Alex Wong / Getty Images

Thomas Jefferson wanted to donate his personal collection of books to the Library of Congress. But critics thought those books were un-American.

By Rebecca Brenner Graham, 05/18/2025 04:00 PM EDT

Rebecca Brenner Graham is author of Dear Miss Perkins: A Story of Frances Perkins’s Efforts to Aid Refugees from Nazi Germany (Kensington, January 2025) and a postdoctoral research associate at Brown University, coordinating Brown 2026: Marking 250 Years of American Democracy.

On May 8, President Donald Trump abruptly fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, because, as White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed, Hayden “did not fit the needs of the American people.”

“There were quite concerning things that she had done at the Library of Congress in the pursuit of DEI and putting inappropriate books in the library for children,” Leavitt said, “and we don’t believe that she was serving the interest of the American taxpayer.”

First, the Library of Congress is primarily a research library where patrons must be 16 years or older to do research on site. Still, Trump’s firing of Hayden was just the latest move that made books and libraries a front in the administration’s culture war against diversity, equity and inclusion.

But in fact, a war has already been waged over the books in the Library of Congress’ collection and whether they aligned with broader ideas of American identity — over whether the books should defer to tradition or show openness to new ideas and different cultures. There was already a declared winner of that war — and ironically, Trump is placing himself at odds with the vision that won and has defined the collection since the early 1800s.

The original Library of Congress was founded in 1800 inside the Capitol and contained a small collection mostly made up of legal texts and parliamentary proceedings for lawmakers to consult. In August 1814, amid the War of 1812, British troops burned the Executive Mansion, the Capitol — including the library — and other public buildings in Washington.

The second-ever Librarian of Congress, Patrick Magruder, was on vacation, and his second-in-command, Assistant Librarian J. T. Frost, was responsible for looking after the library. Frost received advanced notice of the burning in time to send a trusted assistant with four oxen and a cart carrying one copy of each book to safety in northern Virginia. With one copy of each book carted to safety, no knowledge was lost when their duplicates burned.

Read more: Trump Is Waging a Culture War on the Library of Congress. It’s Been Done Before. – PoliticoSource Links: Carla Hayden Firing: The Library of Congress Has Always Been a Battleground for American Culture Wars – POLITICO

#2025 #America #Books #CarlaHayden #DonaldTrump #History #LibrarianOfCongress #Libraries #Library #LibraryOfCongress #Politico #Politics #Resistance #Trump #TrumpAdministration #UnitedStates

Trump Is Waging a Culture War on the Library of Congress. It’s Been Done Before. – Politico

History Dept.Trump Is Waging a Culture War on the Library of Congress. It’s Been Done Before. A visitor tours the Main Reading Room in the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress on Oc…

DrWeb's Domain
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Donald Trump’s Library of Congress fight is really about the separation of powers – AP News

Link courtesy of: Library Link of the Day
http://www.tk421.net/librarylink/  (archive, rss, subscribe options)

President Donald Trump’s abrupt firing of top officials at the Library of Congress and equally sudden attempt to appoint a slate of loyalists as replacements has morphed into an enormous fight over the separation of powers.

Read more: Donald Trump’s Library of Congress fight is really about the separation of powers – AP News

Source Links: Donald Trump’s Library of Congress fight is really about the separation of powers

#2025 #AP #APNews #Books #BranchesOfGovernment #DonaldTrump #Libraries #LibraryOfCongress #Politics #SeparationOfPowers #Trump #TrumpAdministration #UnitedStates

It's not about the books: Trump and the Library of Congress fight

President Donald Trump’s abrupt firing of top officials at the Library of Congress and equally sudden attempt to appoint a slate of loyalists as replacements has morphed into an enormous fight over the separation of powers. And it’s a power struggle with potentially vast consequences. The battle over control of the Library of Congress has prompted Republican leaders on Capitol Hill to deliver rare pushback against Trump. Senate Majority Leader John Thune and other Republicans have been talking with the White House about a potential path to détente. New York Democratic Rep. Joe Morelle says “this egregious overreach into the legislature by the executive branch is just unwarranted and, we believe, unprecedented.”

AP News
Authors Guild Petition to Reinstate Shira Perlmutter as Register of Copyrights
Tell Congress it must act to reverse this unlawful power grab.
https://authorsguild.org/petition-to-reinstate-register-of-copyrights/
#LibraryOfCongress #CopyrightOffice #AuthorsGuild #Petition #Copyright
Petition to Reinstate Shira Perlmutter as Register of Copyrights - The Authors Guild

Last Saturday, the White House abruptly fired Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter, a renowned expert with deep knowledge of the importance of copyright for authors’ livelihoods. In her place, the White House is attempting to install an administration official with […]

The Authors Guild

"On May 8th, Trump abruptly fired the 14th Librarian of the LOC, Carla Hayden, from her role for “the pursuit of DEI and putting inappropriate books in the library for children.” Trump then immediately appointed Todd Blache - his personal attorney from his hush money trial and current Deputy Attorney General - as acting Librarian."

@5calls

#Politics #LibraryOfCongress #5Calls

5 Calls - Protect the Library of Congress - Medi-Nerd 2

https://medi-nerd.com/b/2KU

5 Calls – Protect the Library of Congress

"On May 8th, Trump abruptly fired the 14th Librarian of the LOC, Carla Hayden, from her role for “the pursuit of DEI and putting inappropriate books in the library for children.” Trump then immediately appointed Todd Blache - his personal attorney from his hush money trial and current Deputy Attorney General - as acting Librarian." Voice, Y. (2025). Protect the Library of Congress ⭑ 5 Calls. 5 Calls. https://5calls.org/issue/library-of-congress-librarian/

https://medi-nerd.com/2025/05/16/5-calls-protect-the-library-of-congress/

5 Calls – Protect the Library of Congress

“On May 8th, Trump abruptly fired the 14th Librarian of the LOC, Carla Hayden, from her role for “the pursuit of DEI and putting inappropriate books in the library for children.” Trump then i…

Medi-Nerd 2
End Of An Era! Alondra Nelson Resigns From National Science Board and Library of Congress

Esteemed scholar and public policy expert Alondra Nelson has resigned from her posts on the National Science Board and the Library of…

Shine My Crown