On 25 September 2009, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) released its 87-page Report on Alternative Models for Presidential Libraries that explores five specific alternatives for presidential archival depositories.
The report notes that there is a tension among three charges required by Presidential Historical Records Preservation Act of 2008. The Act requires that the Archivist of the United States submit to Congress a report on alternative models for presidential archival depositories that: 1) Reduces the financial burden on the federal government; 2) Improves the preservation of presidential records, and; 3) Reduces the delay in public access to all presidential records.
Alternative models for a presidential library that reduce the government’s financial burden may not necessarily result in better preservation or quicker public access to presidential records. Likewise, improvements in both of these areas could result in increased costs to the federal government. The models proposed in the report have tried to consider and balance this tension.
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