[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 66 (Friday, April 16, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E409]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   DEPARTURE OF KAREN LLOYD, DIRECTOR OF THE VETERANS HISTORY PROJECT

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                             HON. RON KIND

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, April 16, 2021

  Mr. KIND. Madam Speaker, on April 10, 2021, after sixteen years with 
the Library of Congress, including four and a half years as the 
director of the Veterans History Project (VHP), Karen Lloyd retired 
from public service. I want her to know that her many years of 
dedicated work at both the Library and Veterans History Project are 
very much appreciated.
  Since the VHP was created following the passage of my bipartisan 
legislation in 2000, the program has had five Directors and developed a 
repository of over 111,000 individual collections in the Library's 
American Folklife Center--highlighting the experiences of American 
veterans from every major military conflict since World War I. Karen 
ably guided the Library's effort to collect, preserve, and make 
accessible these personal remembrances for use by future scholars, 
journalists, and historians. It's an important job and one that Karen 
clearly enjoyed doing.
  Karen led efforts to increase the development of women veterans 
collections, and expanded outreach to Native/Indigenous veterans, 
working to ensure that the Library's collection reflected the broad 
diversity of America's military forces. She also devoted considerable 
resources to working personally with Members of the House to raise 
awareness about the program and grow the collection of veterans 
histories from every state. She can be proud of her efforts to increase 
the accessibility of the Veterans History Project as a constituent 
resource.
  Before coming to the Library, Karen served fourteen years as a U.S. 
Army Aviator, six of them as a dustoff pilot, and was the first female 
Medical Service Corp Officer to receive Aviator Wings. She served 
another fourteen years as an Army comptroller in a variety of 
positions. She retired as a Colonel after twenty-eight years of 
military service. Before joining the Veterans History Project, Karen 
served in several positions at the Library--including the Offices of 
the Librarian and Strategic Planning, where she coordinated special 
projects and assessed Library program performance and risk management.
  I have known and worked with Karen throughout her time as VHP 
director, and I can attest to the dedication and care that she brought 
to the job. Her passion for highlighting the stories of our nation's 
veterans was evident from every interaction and event held by the VHP 
over the years.
  Karen leaves the Library well positioned to help usher in a new realm 
of collections stewardship and digital discovery. I wish Karen all the 
best in her next endeavors.

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