It is safe to assume that most Americans have, at best, a vague understanding of the Library of Congress and its mission as the nation’s largest library and perhaps even as the research arm of Congress and as home to the U.S. Copyright Office. And so it’s clear that President Donald Trump’s firing of Dr. Carla Hayden last week — even though she is the first woman and first African American to run the library — didn’t stir a great hue and cry outside the Capital Beltway, at least not immediately. To be fair, many Americans were likely too preoccupied with other matters connected to the federal government, from on-again, off-again tariffs to mass layoffs and cost-cutting.

But here in Baltimore, oh, how it resonated. Dr. Hayden remains a beloved figure in Charm City. Such is the legacy of her 23 years running the Enoch Pratt Free Library system, an institution about which local residents remain rightfully proud. From her support of reading and the arts to her community outreach and even her courageous decision to keep library branches open during the Freddie Gray protests, Hayden was not just a trailblazer but a great success and role model by any measure.

And so for this best-in-the-business librarian to be unceremoniously dumped after nearly a decade in her job — apparently notified by a junior staffer who sent a two-sentence email addressed to “Carla” — under questionable legal circumstances hits hard. This was not some theoretical loss, not some political appointee who overstayed her welcome.

Adding insult to injury, there were vague claims of how Hayden had pushed a diversity, equity and inclusion agenda and put “inappropriate” books in front of children. Really? Last we looked, the Library of Congress didn’t lend. It’s not a preschool resource center. It carries 178 million items. Since when is it a crime to reach out to underserved communities?

The truth is that Hayden deserves far better.

Her efforts should be a source of pride, not admonishment. She is a librarian’s librarian, meaning what she promotes above all else is reading and the gift of knowledge. And it’s fair to wonder if this move had little to do with her skills and accomplishments and much more to do with this administration’s desire to seize control of the nation’s cultural institutions (the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, for example) to serve its agenda.

This is wrong on so many levels. Not the least of which is that the Library of Congress is part of the legislative branch and should not be the latest example of the separation of powers undermined by a power-hungry White House.

Hayden’s firing has already sparked some rare bipartisan pushback in Congress against the executive branch, with Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune joining Democrats in raising concern about Congress losing control over the library. Perhaps these lawmakers crying foul have been doing some reading, namely “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, which offers an apt warning about the danger of powerful institutions levying false accusations.