Keynote Address Summary

Dr. James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress

“I would like to begin by suggesting that we all should rediscover the key ideals upon which our country was founded initially and that there is no consensus or overall strategy concerning our foreign policy now.  Globalization is widening the gap between the rich and the poor.  America seems to agree that democracy is desired by everyone; however, new and emerging governments are usually autocratic.  Some “old” ideas that could possibly help us today are freedom, open access to ever-expanding knowledge, and responsibility.  Freedom is the signature of what America is presumed to be, and liberty is an inalienable right.  Freedom unified a continental country and might help bring a greater unity among the nations of the world.  The edges of freedom are the domain of the mind and spirit.  A knowledge-based democracy extends education to a large number of people and at higher levels.  Responsibility or standards is the twin of liberty or license.  We need to expand our new means of communication and human exchange – discover freedoms and recover our internal basis of responsibility or morality.  Ideas and ideals ultimately determine history.  In our most recent history, the explosions of radical Islamism and the implosion of Soviet communism are examples of this.  How can we best protect our freedoms?  We can maximize our freedom from the world or isolate but we are too deeply involved with the rest of the world for this to be realistic.  We can also promote freedom in the world and share it.  We can show how freedom is the pathway to becoming better people in a better world.  Our country seems to have become more nearsighted even as our horizons have expanded.  I offer you two hopes for all the business of education: 1) that students would never lose the simple pleasure of reading a good book alone on a rainy afternoon, the process of “adventuring thought,” and 2) that they will be enabled and enriched by the adventure of doing it.”

Following his comments, Dr. Billington was honored for his many contributions to the world and to education and was presented with the Texas Education Reform Foundation Champion of Education Award by TERF Chairman, Jon H. Fleming.