Today, the Library of Congress joined 12 other government agencies and non-governmental organizations in signing a “Declaration of Learning” that formally announces their partnership as members of the Inter-Agency Collaboration on Education.

 The initiative is spearheaded by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who joined representatives at the signing ceremony in the Diplomatic Reception Rooms at the U.S. Department of State. The historic Treaty of Paris desk was used to complete the signing.

Through this partnership, the Library has committed to working together with the other agencies and organizations in utilizing historic artifacts in its collections, as well as its educational expertise, to create digital learning tools that can be accessed from computers, tablets and cell phones.  Non-digital learning tools will also be created for classroom and public use.

Now students, teachers and life-long learners will have the opportunity to explore historic objects and access new learning resources digitally, helping to ensure that tomorrow’s leaders better understand the events, ideas and movements that have shaped our country and the world.  The group has selected “Diplomacy” as the first topic around which learning resources will be created.  A new topic will be selected every two years.

Other institutions participating in the the Inter-Agency Collaboration on Education and signing the Declaration of Learning include the  National Archives, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, Newseum, American Library Association, National Center for Literacy Education, National Council of Teachers of English, National Council for the Social Studies and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

More information can be found at the U.S. Department of State website.