James Billington
Dr. James H. Billington is the Librarian of Congress and is the 13th person to hold the position since the Library was established in 1800. During his tenure at the Library, he has championed the Library's "American Memory" National Digital Library (NDL) Program, which makes freely available on-line nearly 11 million American historical items from the collections of the Library and other research institutions. He has also supported a major bi-lingual website with the National Libraries of Russia and has launched similar joint projects with the national libraries of Brazil, Spain, France, the Netherlands, and Egypt. He created the Library's first national private-sector advisory and support group, the James Madison Council. He is the author of several books, including The Icon and the Axe: An Interpretive History of Russian Culture.