In a recent blog, I talked about librarians for the digital age. Now there's a library for the digital age.

Four years ago, James Billington, the Librarian of Congress, had the idea of making the world's cultural treasures--rare books, manuscripts, maps, drawings, films, and sound recordings--easily accessible through a website.

He felt that the world's treasures should be available to everyone. Other nations agreed, and on April 21, 2009, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) launched the World Digital Library. Roughly 1,200 artifacts from North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Oceania are available at the click of a mouse.

I felt as if I were in the world's most interesting library as I wandered from continent to continent, exploring treasures like the 1507 Map of the Entire World, the 1403 Yongle Encyclopedia from China, and the 1493 Columbus Manuscript.

The website contains images of prehistoric rock paintings, a late-1800s recording of the French national anthem "La Marseillaise," oracle bones from 1200 B.C. inscribed with ancient text about the seasons and equinoxes, and examples of early Persian poetry.

I was inspired by my first visit to the World Digital Library. What a great resource for older students, as well as students looking for a greater challenge, to have access to source documents for the studies of history, geography, art, language, science, and astronomy. I look forward to seeing this digital collection grow.