National Archives Announces Extended Research Room Hours
February 1, 2008 by Chris
Filed under Articles, Latest News, Public Records
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, February 1, 2008
National Archives Announces Extended Research Room Hours
Washington, DC. . . Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein announced today that the National Archives will restore its evening and weekend hours in its Washington, DC and College Park, MD, research rooms. Effective the week of April 14, 2008, the extended hours will be 9 A.M. to 9 P.M. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday and 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. Saturday. Hours on Monday and Tuesday will continue to be 9 A.M to 5 P.M.
Congress and the President provided a one-time appropriation of $1.3 million in the National Archives Fiscal Year 2008 budget to restore these hours. The funds will be used to hire new archival research room staff and to cover the costs of utilities, maintenance, and security during the extended hours.
“I am very grateful to the Congress and the President for their recognition of the importance of making our documentary heritage as widely available as possible. Extending the research room hours goes a long way in helping us attain this goal.
This increase in hours underlines our commitment to open government,” the Archivist said in making the announcement. “I would also like to acknowledge the enthusiastic support of our user communities,” he added.
Research room hours at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC and at the College Park facility were reduced in October 2006 as a cost-savings measure. Since then, the National Archives has had extended hours only once a month on Thursday and Friday evenings and on Saturdays. Prior to October 2006, the National Archives extended hours were Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. The change from Tuesday to Wednesday evening late hours was implemented to make it more convenient and cost-effective for out-of-town researchers who travel to the National Archives for research.
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For more information, contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at 202-357-5300.
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