The American Library Association named Carla Hayden the 2013 recipient of its highest honor, the Joseph W. Lippincott Award.
On June 28, 2013, the American Library Association announced that Carla Hayden would receive the Joseph W. Lippincott Award, the ALA's highest honor, given in recognition of distinguished service to the profession of librarianship.
The award recognized Hayden's decades of transformative leadership, particularly her tenure as CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, where she had overseen major modernization efforts, expanded community programming, and strengthened the library's role as a civic anchor in a city facing significant social and economic challenges.
The Lippincott Award has historically been reserved for librarians who have made lasting contributions to the field over an extended career, and Hayden's selection affirmed her standing among the most respected leaders in American librarianship. Her recognition came near the midpoint of a career that would soon reach even greater national prominence.
This honor reflected not only her institutional achievements but her broader advocacy for equitable access to information, particularly for underserved and marginalized communities. It served as a capstone recognition of her pre-Library of Congress career, cementing her reputation just a few years before she would be nominated to lead the nation's library.