Checking Out Tomorrow's Library

The site "has an enormous educational potential," Billington said, noting that its content is being designed particularly with children in mind. "It has the capacity both to inspire respect for other cultures and their histories and stories, but at the same time to establish critical thinking."

The WDL is being developed by the Library of Congress in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which officials said would broaden the program's reach and appeal.

The general model for the WDL is the Library of Congress's National Digital Library Program, which was launched in the mid-1990s. That program's flagship is the American Memory Web site ( http://www.memory.loc.gov), which offers 11 million digital files culled from U.S. historical records -- from the Declaration of Independence and Civil War photographs to early Thomas Edison movies and recordings of interviews with former slaves.

Billington said the United States was offering its experiences in creating American Memory as a guide to help the 190 other member states of UNESCO explore and digitally archive their own national and cultural memories for the WDL. The site will be accessible in the six official languages of the United Nations (English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian and Arabic) plus Portuguese.

The WDL will begin offering content on its site in late 2008 or early 2009, Billington said, with the ability to "rapidly ramp up" as countries digitize their archives and make them available. The site will have a few hundred thousand items to begin with, officials said.

The Library of Congress holdings, which include millions of items from around the world, will form the backbone of the initial WDL collection, with other digital content provided by six other libraries, including the national libraries of Egypt, Brazil and Russia.

The start-up cost of American Memory was $60 million, about $45 million of which came from private sponsors. WDL officials could not estimate how much it would cost to fully fund the creation of their site, but they said they hoped much of the money would come from private sources. Google gave $3 million to launch the project and develop the prototype displayed Wednesday.

The United States has often been criticized, particularly here in France and in the developing world, for its dominance of the Internet and for the global spread of its culture. But WDL officials called the project an example of how the United States could use its vast resources and know-how to bridge those differences.

"This is the best counter to that view of the U.S. . . . muscling its way in and forcing other countries to do what it wants," said Serageldin, the Egyptian library head. "The Library of Congress is the biggest library in the world by far, and it has stretched out its hand to invite partners from all over the world to participate. This is a wonderful way to show how true U.S. leadership is being exercised by a great cultural institution and bringing about a wonderful reaction from everybody."