Washington Post: “…Central to Hayden’s goals is a $60 million makeover of the library’s Thomas Jefferson Building, the historic 1897 architectural wonder known for its Great Hall, which is open to the public, and the Main Reading Room, the hushed temple where scholars work. Hayden unveiled the first glimpses of the concept — with its additional exhibition space, youth center and innovative access to the Main Reading Room — on Wednesday at her annual appearance before the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, which oversees the library. Some critics have expressed concerns that if the plan is approved, the library’s intellectual focus will be sacrificed to an avalanche of exhibitions and the increased foot traffic that would result. In an age when facts seem to be up for grabs and information flows quickly but often with little authority, they say, the library’s academic mission is more critical than ever. But Hayden and her team — which includes two senior executives with museum backgrounds — say the changes would spark renewed interest in the library’s history, its collections and its role as a research institution…

…The changes to the Jefferson Building are intended to attract more visitors, a Hayden priority. The library had 1.9 million visitors in 2017, up from 1.6 in 2013. “It isn’t an ivory tower only for select people. It’s the people’s library,” said historian and author A. Scott Berg, who is doing research at the library for his next book. “They are sitting on hundreds of thousands of amazing objects. It’s part of [Hayden’s] desire and mission to share that with the American public.”…