Carla Hayden, a senior fellow at the Mellon Foundation and former Librarian of Congress, will receive Biographers International Organization’s 2026 Biblio Award, honoring a notable archivist. Since 2012, (BIO) has presented the Biblio Award annually to recognize a librarian or archivist who has made an exceptional contribution to the craft of biography. This year, it will be presented at BIO’s annual conference in New York City on May 28, 2026.

At the Mellon Foundation, Dr. Hayden is pursuing scholarship, writing, and research projects. She also serves as a strategic partner and counsel to the Foundation on ways to support and advance libraries, archives, and other organizations in the public knowledge ecosystem.

Previously, she was the 14th Librarian of Congress, the first woman and first African American to lead the national library. She served in that position from 2016 to 2025, where her goal was to make the Library and its unparalleled collections more accessible to the public. She introduced new audiences to many of the Library’s treasures – from Frederick Douglass’s papers, to the contents of President Abraham Lincoln’s pockets on the night of his assassination, to James Madison’s crystal flute made famous by Lizzo.

Before she served as Librarian, Dr. Hayden was the CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Maryland, deputy commissioner and chief librarian of the Chicago Public Library, assistant professor of library and information science at the University of Pittsburgh, and library services coordinator for the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. She began her career with the Chicago Public Library. 

Among her numerous civic and professional memberships and awards, Dr. Hayden is an elected member of the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

“By presenting this award to Dr. Carla Hayden, BIO expresses its appreciation of her work as a librarian, and reaffirms its commitment, which it shares with her, of bringing life stories and history to the public,” said Kathleen Stone, chair of BIO’s Awards Committee.