Chris Van Hollen: “I rise today to pay tribute to a dedicated public servant and Marylander Mark Sweeney, Principal Deputy Librarian of…”

“I rise today to pay tribute to a dedicated public servant and Marylander Mark Sweeney, Principal Deputy Librarian of Congress. With almost 40 years of unwavering service to the Library of Congress, Mr. Sweeney has faithfully served our Nation by preserving our knowledge, history, and culture. Throughout his distinguished career, Mr. Sweeney served the Library of Congress in multiple positions. He began his career at the Library in 1985 as a Library technician. His hard work, expertise, and dedication led to multiple promotions, including to Chief of the Preservation Reformatting Division, Chief of the Humanities and Social Sciences Division, and the Library's Director of Preservation. Throughout his career, Mr. Sweeney's dedication to preserving and enhancing knowledge strengthened the experiences of visitors to the Library of Congress. As Principal Deputy Librarian of Congress, he envisioned the Library's first user-centered strategic plan and contributed to the implementation of the Visitor Experience Master Plan. In addition, through Mr. Sweeney's leadership and support, access to our Nation's historical newspapers increased, conserving our history and culture. As the Library's technical adviser to the U.S. Newspaper Program, Mr. Sweeney contributed to the locating, preservation, cataloging, and dissemination of newspapers from the 18th century to the present that were published in the United States. In addition, Mr.…”