Frequently Asked Questions

FAQs

FAQs

1. What is a presidential library center (PLC)?
Usually located on or near a university campus, a presidential library center houses the White House records of a presidential administration in a cluster of building that include a library/archives, a major museum, a conference center, and a university academic program (in a school of public affairs, or the like). At Baylor, the complex of buildings would possibly be called the George Walker Bush Presidential Library Center and the various elements would possibly be called:

• George Walker Bush Presidential Library;
• George Walker Bush Presidential Museum;
• George Walker Bush Institute; and
• Conference Center (to be named).

2. What other interesting results does a PLC project bring to a university and a host community?

• The archival holdings attract scholars from around the world for major research leading to books, articles, and other scholarly presentations;
• The PLC hosts major events sponsored by the National Archives and Records Administration;
• The PLC museum features major traveling exhibits, including some from other PLCs, on subjects related to national affairs;
• Symposia and other conferences on issues and topics at the PLC of broad national and global interest attract live TV coverage by C-SPAN;
• The university successfully recruits undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in careers in the public sector and in the non-profit, private sector;
• Annual visitorship levels at the museum may be expected in the range of 400,000-500,000 people, including international visitors, American tourists, and school groups;
• The multiplier economic effect of the PLC in the community from visitors is substantial;
• Typically, a PLC has private living quarters for the former president and family, making the former First Family residents of the campus and community on a regular basis; and
• The PLC usually quickly becomes one of the "crown jewels" of the university and the community--a center of activity of great substance.

3. How would construction and operation of the PLC be funded?

• A new 501(c)(3) foundation would raise funding for construction of the PLC, which may cost approximately $200 million dollars;
• Once constructed, the library/archives facility would be deeded to the federal government, which would operate that portion of the PLC;
• The foundation would continue to fund the operations of the museum, once completed; and
• If there is a school associated with PLC it would become an academic division of Baylor University, which would operate several undergraduate and graduate programs in that facility in the PLC.

4. What would be the federal government's role in a presidential library center?

• The Presidential Libraries Acts of 1955, 1978, and 1986 authorize and set basic guidelines for all official PLCs in the United States;
• The presidential library/archives, the building and the official papers, would be owned and operated by the National Archives and Records Administration;
• Salaries of all professional personnel in the library/archives would be paid by NARA; and
• The entire presidential library center would be affiliated with the network of eleven other, similar PLCs, under the Office of Presidential Libraries, a division of NARA.

5. When would the PLC be constructed?

• Typically, the PLC is built during the first few years after a U.S. president leaves the White House;
• Meanwhile, the processing of the White House papers will begin in the city where the PLC is under construction--activity to be called the "George Walker Bush Presidential Materials Project"; and
• An NARA archival staff--8-10 people--moves to town to handle all early work related to the library/archives, including receiving presidential papers from Washington, D.C.

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