III 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 336 

Recognizing and honoring the 20 years of service and contributions of Dr. 

James Hadley Billington as Librarian of Congress. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 27, 2007 

Mrs. HUTCHISON (for herself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. SPECTER, Mr. LEAHY, 

Mr. LUGAR, Mr. WEBB, Mr. REID, Mr. CONRAD, Mr. DODD, Mr. ALLARD, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. NELSON of Nebraska, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. 

DORGAN, Mr. STEVENS, Mr. LOTT, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. 

BENNETT, Mr. COCHRAN, Mr. COLEMAN, and Mr. BUNNING) submitted 

the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing and honoring the 20 years of service and contributions of Dr. James Hadley Billington as Librarian 

of Congress. 

Whereas Dr. James H. Billington was nominated to be the 

13th Librarian of Congress by President Ronald Reagan 

in 1987, and was confirmed by the Senate and sworn in 

as Librarian of Congress on September 14, 1987; 

Whereas the world renowned collections of the Library of 

Congress, the largest and most comprehensive in history, 

have grown by almost 50,000,000 items since Dr. 

Billington became Librarian, totaling more than 

135,000,000 today; 


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•SRES 336 ATS 

Whereas, during Dr. Billington’s tenure, the Library of Congress modernized its collection through the creation of 

the National Digital Library Program, the American 

Memory program, THOMAS, and the World Digital Library; 

Whereas the Librarian created the first ever private sector 

philanthropic and advisory group, The Madison Council, 

to spearhead countless programs for the Library and assist in its funding efforts; 

Whereas the Library of Congress has successfully acquired 

the 1507 Martin Waldseemuller map, the Martin Carson 

collection of early Americana, the Jay Kislak early Americas collection, and has also continued the preservation of 

Library collections and promoted cultural and educational outreach programs through the added assistance 

of private contributions and in-kind gifts collected during 

Dr. Billington’s tenure; 

Whereas, during James Billington’s Librarianship, the Library of Congress has displayed its treasures and those 

of other Nations in more than 300 spectacular and enriching exhibitions at the Library and on its Internet 

website; 

Whereas, during Dr. Billington’s tenure, the Library of Congress has been a leader in the library world in establishing systems to protect vast collections such as the National Recording Registry and the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program, developing cutting edge preservation developments to maintain 

and protect multiple format collections for future generations, and also ensuring the security of staff, researchers, 

and visitors; 


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Whereas the Kluge Center at the Library of Congress was established during the Librarian’s tenure to foster mutually 

enriching interaction between the scholarly world and policy makers and supports the $1,000,000 Kluge Prize 

honoring lifetime achievements in the humanities; 

Whereas the Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson and 

John Adams buildings were restored by Congress over a 

multi-year period and reopened to the public in 1997, restoring in particular the century-old Jefferson Building 

to its former glory as one of the most beautiful buildings 

in America; 

Whereas Dr. Billington has overseen the consolidation of the 

Library’s recorded sound and moving images in a largescale digital storage archive at the Packard Campus for 

Audio-Visual Conservation, which was constructed 

through a unique private-public partnership with the 

Packard Humanities Institute; 

Whereas the Library of Congress and First Lady Laura 

Bush instituted and have co-sponsored the very popular 

National Book Festival annually since 2001, celebrating 

the joy of reading and the creativity of America’s writers 

and illustrators; 

Whereas the programs of the Library of Congress, including 

the National Digital Library which processed over 

5,000,000,000 transactions in 2006 alone, have made 

freely available to the American people millions of historical items in the Library’s incomparable collection 

through online databases, including 11,000,000 rare primary source materials from its collection, to invigorate 

and promote lifelong learning in every locality in the 

United States: Now, therefore, be it 


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•SRES 336 ATS 

1 Resolved, That the Senate recognizes and honors the 

2 20 years of service and contributions of Dr. James Hadley 

3 Billington as Librarian of Congress. 

Æ 


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