The United States of America and Europe aim to build a Transatlantic Digital Library with materials about a common theme from the Library of Congress and European National Libraries. The purpose was to exchange practical and technical expertise, to bring virtually together divers and dispersed materials and improve better access to these materials. To demonstrate the feasibility and value of the digital library concept, the Library of Congress and the National Library of the Netherlands jointly developed a pilot project devoted to the fiftieth anniversary of the Marshall Plan. This project was featured at the May 1997 "Building Bridges" conference.
The transatlantic digital library is intended to complement existing projects underway in Europe and the United States, as well as other international cooperative projects, including the Bibliotheca universalis launched under the auspices of the G7 in early 1995.