presidential libraries
Commander-in-chief repositories
Presidential libraries are institutions that house the papers, records, and artifacts of U.S. presidents after they leave office.
Administered by the National Archives, each library serves as both archive and museum, preserving documents while offering public exhibits about the president's life and administration.
Every president since Hoover has one, typically built in a state with personal significance: We visited the Reagan Library in California.
- Oval OfficePresident's formal workspace
- public memorySociety's retained knowledge
- first ladyPreeminent woman somewhere
- executive ordersPresidential directives with legal force
- museum exhibitsItems on public display
gift shop · primary sources · classified documents · archives · public programs · reading room · national identity · founding fathers · civic education · oral histories · conservation · policy impact · digitization · political analysis · historiography · guided tours · ribbon cutting · political symbolism
- archivesnational archives, state archives, archivist, archive box, national archive
- presidential recordsWhite House tapes, Oval Office tapes, State of the Union, vetoes, pardons
- tourist attractionstheme parks, amusement parks, museum, water parks, zoos
- librariescirculation desk, stacks, reference desk, card catalogs, checkout
- museumsmuseums, art museums, exhibits, galleries, exhibitions
- book collectionscomplete works, box set, boxed set, collected works, volumes
presidential librariescommunity libraries
Shared local book repositories
bookmobiles · free libraries · municipal libraries · school libraries · little free libraries
presidential librariessealed records
Legally restricted official documents
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