82-year-old James Billington, the 13th Librarian of Congress, has no plans to retire soon. The forward thinking national librarian has been in the position since 1987, working on materials and libraries in charged political climates from the fall of Soviet Russia to the upheaval in several Arab nations. He talked recently with
The Hill about his career.
“I have no plans at this point — sorry to disappoint you... The Lord’s been very kind, and I’m in the middle of a lot of interesting things. And of course, it’s a time when all cultural institutions are facing lots of challenges... At my age and in this position, my job is to see that as much of what is valuable and important for the United States has a chance to survive in this difficult economic climate, that it has a chance to contribute to a knowledge-based democracy and its place in the world.” thehill
Well, I thank him for his service and his unwillingness to retire, setting a trend across the nation for other librarians to do the same. I kid. I also am looking for further employment, but could not imagine doing Mr. Billington's job with a 10-foot-pole. Do you think he knows something about the social security program that we don't?
