--- title: Carla Hayden Wants Young Girls to Read This Book description: Find out what book Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden wants young girls to read. canonical: https://time.com/4941242/librarian-congress-book-firsts/ author: Real Simple article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-14T13:18:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:05:52.415Z og:title: The Book the Librarian of Congress Wants Young Girls to Read og:description: And find out what book inspired her when she was younger og:url: https://time.com/4941242/librarian-congress-book-firsts/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt64fd79ae3033f4bd/6988ddc1bc6cfc096a3e3140/carla-hayden-time-firsts.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Leader of Baltimore system is confirmed to head Library of Congress og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Book the Librarian of Congress Wants Young Girls to Read twitter:description: And find out what book inspired her when she was younger twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt64fd79ae3033f4bd/6988ddc1bc6cfc096a3e3140/carla-hayden-time-firsts.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Book the Librarian of Congress Wants Young Girls to Read > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Twice a week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [Nora Horvath / Real Simple](https://time.com/author/real-simple/) ## Nora Horvath / Real Simple Sep 14, 2017 1:18 PM UTC  Carla Hayden, in an April 2015 file image, is confirmed by the Senate on Wednesday, July 13, 2016, to head the Library of Congress. Hayden is the longtime leader of Baltimore's library system. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun/TNS via Getty Images) Carla Hayden, in an April 2015 file image, is confirmed by the Senate on Wednesday, July 13, 2016, to head the Library of Congress. Hayden is the longtime leader of Baltimore's library system. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun/TNS via Getty Images) Baltimore Sun—TNS via Getty Images by [Nora Horvath / Real Simple](https://time.com/author/real-simple/) ## Nora Horvath / Real Simple Sep 14, 2017 1:18 PM UTC On Tuesday night, _TIME_ Magazine hosted the [TIME Firsts](http://time.com/collection/firsts/) panel discussion which featured four women who are changing the world. The panel, which discussed the roadblocks these women faced in building their careers, featured Carla Hayden, Sylvia Earle, Maya Lin, and Kathryn Smith, and was hosted by _TIME_ editor-in-chief Nancy Gibbs. **RELATED:** [**This Is the Book Sarah Jessica Parker Thinks You Should Read**](https://www.realsimple.com/work-life/entertainment/arts-culture/sarah-jessica-parker-book-club) During the event, the discussion quickly turned to books that inspired the women when they were young girls. Carla Hayden, the first-ever woman Librarian of Congress, took this opportunity to suggest a recently-released title that she thinks girls should be reading: “There’s a new book that’s out now, it’s called [_Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls_](https://www.amazon.com/Good-Night-Stories-Rebel-Girls/dp/014198600X), and it’s a great book,” Hayden said. “It’s filled with all types of girls and types of women doing all types of things. To see an 8 or 9 year old looking at that now and thinking, ‘Wow, I can do that.’” _Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls_, by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo, is a collection of 100 stories from real-life women, from Frida Kahlo to Jane Austen to Serena Williams, re-told as bedtime stories for kids. Each inspirational story shows young girls that they can be anyone they want to be. **RELATED:** [**How to Find 20 Minutes a Day to Read—Yes, Even If You’re** **_So_** **Busy**](https://www.realsimple.com/work-life/entertainment/find-time-to-read) Hayden went on to mention that Anne Boleyn was one of the reasons she got interested in reading in the first place. When she saw her grandmother reading the book [_Brief Gaudy Hour: A Novel of Anne Boleyn_](https://www.amazon.com/Brief-Gaudy-Hour-Novel-Boleyn/dp/1402211759) by Margaret Campbell Barnes, her interest was piqued. “I didn’t understand half of what Anne Boleyn was doing but she was this strong woman who just tricked everybody and did all this back then, and I’ve been an Anne Boleyn fan ever since,” Hayden said. [_Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls_](https://www.amazon.com/Good-Night-Stories-Rebel-Girls/dp/014198600X) and [_Brief Gaudy Hour: A Novel of Anne Boleyn_](https://www.amazon.com/Brief-Gaudy-Hour-Novel-Boleyn/dp/1402211759) are both available on Amazon. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4941242/librarian-congress-book-firsts/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4941242/librarian-congress-book-firsts/"},"headline":"The Book the Librarian of Congress Wants Young Girls to Read","datePublished":"2017-09-14T13:18:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:05:52.415Z","description":"And find out what book inspired her when she was younger","url":"https://time.com/4941242/librarian-congress-book-firsts/","keywords":["motto","Books","TIME","real simple","onetime","Firsts"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt64fd79ae3033f4bd/6988ddc1bc6cfc096a3e3140/carla-hayden-time-firsts.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nora Horvath / Real Simple"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt64fd79ae3033f4bd/6988ddc1bc6cfc096a3e3140/carla-hayden-time-firsts.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Leader of Baltimore system is confirmed to head Library of Congress","caption":"Leader of Baltimore system is confirmed to head Library of Congress","creditText":"Baltimore Sun—TNS via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4941242/librarian-congress-book-firsts/","name":"The Book the Librarian of Congress Wants Young Girls to Read"}}]}] ```