The National Library of Russia and the Library of Congress partner to build the World Digital Library
Project Begun to Create World Digital Library
November 28, 2006 (National Library of Russia)
A ceremony to sign an agreement between the U.S. Library of Congress and the Russian National Library took place at 5:30 p.m. on November 29, 2006, at the Russian National Library (Sadovaya Street, 18), marking the start of a new international project to create and develop a World Digital Library.
The World Digital Library will gather valuable materials on the history and culture of various peoples and ethnic groups: books, manuscripts, maps, musical scores, postcards, and photographs, providing free remote access to these. This will facilitate mutual understanding among representatives of various cultures, will guarantee preservation of materials in the world’s most important libraries.
Chief participants in the project will be the national libraries and archives of several countries. The international organizations UNESCO and IFLA are supporting the project. The Google company has provided $3,000,000 to plan and develop a prototype site for the project.
The Russian National Library is a full participant in the project. It has more than 35 million items in its collections, and was the first state public library in Russia. Its collections hold extremely valuable materials on the history and culture of the peoples of our country and of other countries in the world.
Russian National Library Director V. N. Zaitsev signed the agreement for the Russian side; James Billington, Director of the U.S. Library of Congress, for the American side.