The WDL was developed by a team at the Library of Congress.

UNESCO: Communication and Information

The WDL functions in seven languages - Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish - and includes content in more than forty languages.

UNESCO: Communication and Information

Mr Matsuura also highlighted the synergies between this initiative and UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme, noting that the WDL should help provide public access to digital versions of collections on the Memory of the World register.

UNESCO: Communication and Information

Mr Billington first proposed the creation of a World Digital Library (WDL) to UNESCO in 2005, remarking that such a project could "have the salutary effect of bringing people together by celebrating the depth and uniqueness of different cultures in a single global undertaking".

UNESCO: Communication and Information

Institutions contributing to the WDL include national libraries, and cultural and educational institutions in Brazil, Egypt, China, France, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Mali, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, Qatar, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, Sweden, Uganda, the United Kingdom and the United States.

UNESCO: Communication and Information

Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, UNESCO Special Envoy for Basic and Higher Education and Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, congratulated UNESCO and the partner institutions on the launch of the WDL and stated that "Qatar is very proud to be a founding member of this remarkable international collaboration".

UNESCO: Communication and Information