Today (21st of April 2009) the very large Digital library in the world - The World Digital Library (WDL) has been launched to the public access. Readers can use this digital library with free of charge. And also it support multilingual. The principal objectives of the WDL are :

• Promote international and intercultural understanding;
• Expand the volume and variety of cultural content on the Internet;
• Provide resources for educators, scholars, and general audiences;
• Build capacity in partner institutions to narrow the digital divide within and between countries.

This wonderful WDL makes it possible to the readers to discover, study, and enjoy cultural treasures from around the world on one site, in a variety of ways. These cultural treasures include, almost all the books like manuscripts, maps, rare books, musical scores, recordings, films, prints, photographs, and architectural drawings.
Items on the WDL may easily be browsed by place, time, topic, type of item, and contributing institution, or can be located by an open-ended search, in several languages. Special features include interactive geographic clusters, a timeline, advanced image-viewing and interpretive capabilities. Item-level descriptions and interviews with curators about featured items provide additional information.

Navigation tools and content descriptions are provided in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. Many more languages are represented in the actual books, manuscripts, maps, photographs, and other primary materials, which are provided in their original languages.
The WDL was developed by a team at the U.S. Library of Congress, with contributions by partner institutions in many countries; the support of the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); and the financial support of a number of companies and private foundations.
WDL Milestones

• June 2005: Librarian of Congress James H. Billington proposes establishing a World Digital Library to UNESCO.
• December 2006: UNESCO and the Library of Congress co-sponsor an Experts Meeting with key stakeholders from all regions of the world. The Experts Meeting results in a decision to establish working groups to develop standards and content selection guidelines.
• October 2007: The Library of Congress and five partner institutions present a prototype of the future WDL at the UNESCO General Conference.
• April 2009: The WDL is launched to the international public, with content about every UNESCO member state.

For more details http://www.wdl.org