Editing American Memory (section)

==Funding==
The National Digital Library was created through bipartisan support in the [[United States Congress]]. Initially publicly funded with $15 million over five years, a public-private partnership of entrepreneurs and philanthropists led to more than $45 million in private sponsorship from 1994 through 2000. At first, only $13 million was donated from private sectors but the project gained momentum as the years went on.

Beginning in 1996, the [[Library of Congress]] sponsored a three-year competition with a $2 million gift from the [[Ameritech Corporation]] to enable public research, and academic libraries, museums, historical societies, and archival institutions (with the exception of federal institutions) to digitize American history collections and make them available on the library's American Memory site. The competition produced 23 digital collections that complement American Memory, which now features more than 100 thematic collections.