Librarian of Congress James Billington Retiring Wednesday, Three Months Early
Librarian of Congress James Billington will leave his post earlier than expected, after saying Friday that he plans to retire Wednesday. Billington announced in June that he planned to retire Jan. 1 (see 1506180057). Deputy Librarian of Congress David Mao will serve as acting librarian until the Senate confirms a permanent replacement for Billington, the Library of Congress said. Billington's early departure refocuses attention on the selection of Billington's replacement, but doesn't necessarily put additional pressure on the White House to select a nominee, copyright stakeholders told us in interviews.
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Billington didn't indicate Friday why he's leaving the LOC earlier than expected but said in a statement that he plans to “embark on my retirement in order to begin spending time on long-planned writing projects and with my beloved family.” Billington noted that the LOC's top leadership, including Mao and recently hired Chief Information Officer Bernard Barton, are “deeply experienced and well-equipped to provide a smooth transition to the next chapter in the history of this one-of-a-kind asset for America in our increasingly knowledge-dependent world.” The GAO criticized Billington and other LOC leaders in a March report for not modernizing critical LOC IT systems (see 1503310046). LOC has since been working to address the GAO report's 31 recommendations, including hiring Barton in early September soon after it took the library more than a week to restore CO's online registration system and other key LOC systems (see 1509080058).
Copyright stakeholders also said they were surprised by Billington's announcement and that it was unclear why Billington has decided to leave LOC early. Still, Electronic Frontier Foundation Director-Copyright Activism Parker Higgins noted that “there had been some consternation” over whether Billington should remain responsible for issuing the final ruling on the Copyright Office's new round of Digital Millennium Copyright Act Section 1201 exemptions. CO is in the final stages of its triennial Section 1201 exemptions rulemaking process and is set to issue its recommended exemptions in October or early November. Whether or not Billington's decision was related to his role in the Section 1201 rulemaking process, his early departure “seems to have sidestepped” the issue, Higgins said.
Billington's early retirement doesn't put the White House under additional pressure to name a permanent replacement because Mao's January appointment as deputy librarian and Barton's recent move to LOC gives lawmakers and other stakeholders some certainty that there will be stable leadership to oversee additional LOC reforms until a selection occurs, an industry lobbyist told us. The search for Billington's replacement was “something that the White House already took seriously,” Higgins said. “A more functional [LOC] would have more things that required day-to-day attention, but given the amount of rebuilding that whoever takes the job is going to have to do, I think the White House is going to want to take the time to pick the right person.” The White House didn't comment on whether Billington's early departure is moving up its search timetable or if it is close to a decision on a nominee. The White House has been looking at less than a dozen possible candidates, including Archivist of the United States David Ferriero and Internet Archive Founder Brewster Kahle, an industry lobbyist said.