III 110th CONGRESS 1st Session S. RES. 336 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; 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; 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 large-scale 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

That the Senate recognizes and honors the 20 years of service and contributions of Dr. James Hadley Billington as Librarian of Congress.