该馆藏包含世界数字图书馆 （WDL） 项目期间收集的文化遗产资料，包括由全球合作伙伴组织贡献的数千份资料，以及来自美国国会图书馆馆藏的内容。最初的世界数字图书馆网站（保存在 LC 的 Web 档案中）和所有描述性元数据均从英语翻译过来，并以另外六种语言提供：西班牙语、葡萄牙语、法语、阿拉伯语、俄语和中文。所有项目记录都包括由贡献合作伙伴提交的叙述性描述，并由 WDL 研究人员进行增强，以将项目及其文化和历史重要性置于上下文中。WDL 馆藏中的书籍、手稿、地图和其他主要资料以其原始语言呈现;该展览代表了 100 多种语言，包括许多鲜为人知和濒危的语言。此外，七种语言的所有世界数字图书馆元数据都作为可下载的数据集提供。

世界数字图书馆于 2009 年启动，是美国国会图书馆的一个项目，得到了联合国教科文组织的支持，并得到了世界各地图书馆、档案馆、博物馆、教育机构和国际组织的捐助。WDL 寻求保存和分享世界上一些最重要的文物，增加对文化宝藏和重要历史文献的访问，以促进发现、学术和使用。

This collection contains cultural heritage materials gathered during the World Digital Library (WDL) project, including thousands of items contributed by partner organizations worldwide as well as content from Library of Congress collections. The original World Digital Library site (preserved in LC’s Web Archives here) and all descriptive metadata were translated from English and made available in six additional languages: Spanish, Portuguese, French, Arabic, Russian, and Chinese. All item records include narrative descriptions submitted by the contributing partners and enhanced by WDL researchers to contextualize the item and its cultural and historical importance. Books, manuscripts, maps, and other primary materials in the WDL collection are presented in their original languages; more than 100 languages are represented, including many lesser known and endangered languages. Additionally, all World Digital Library metadata in each of the seven languages is available as a downloadable dataset.