Effective Friday, March 15, 2013, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) will reduce public hours at two locations in the Washington, DC, area as part of actions it is taking due to sequestration. These reductions will affect exhibit spaces and research rooms at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, and research rooms at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland.
Exhibit spaces at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, are normally open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., seven days a week. In the past, the National Archives offered extended hours from March 15 through Labor Day, when the building stayed open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week. NARA will no longer offer these extended hours. Exhibit spaces at the National Archives Building in Washington DC will remain open to the public from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., seven days a week, year round. The last admission will be at 5:00 p.m.
Research rooms at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, and the National Archives at College Park, Maryland, are normally open to researchers six days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with extended hours from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. three days
a week (Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday). NARA will no longer offer these extended hours. The research rooms will remain open to researchers from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, year round.
In announcing the reduced hours, David S. Ferriero, the Archivist of the United States said: “We don’t take these reductions lightly. We are working hard to achieve our mission and minimize disruptions to the services we provide to the public.”
Dear Archivist David,
Closing to the public is the worst thing you can do. The Library. Of Congress did it in 1986 during Gramm Rudman Hollings cuts and this is the worst thing ever. People say if public servants don’t put service to the public high on your priority list why should we support you. These are permanent cuts and it is the inspired public and the inspired researchers that make a difference advocating for your agency with their elected officials They won’t come any more, they wont be inspired,and they won’t give a rip about what you do. To deny public access to the charters of freedom should be grounds for an obvious malfeasance in office charge. Retract. Obama played into the budget slashers hands by closing the White House. You will note that the Library of Congress is not closing. I urge you to find the money to do so.It won’t be much and perhaps you can even put out donation boxes. No telling who you may reach perhaps some as rich as David Rubinstein keep the doors open.
You are a smart administrator show it! Many thank as a member of the public and an admirer of what you have accomplished in advocacy already. Go for it!
Canceling the extended hours makes it difficult for researchers like myself who come from out of town for short research visits to work in Archives II. I hope you will be able to reinstate that service. And I hope that other archival consultation services for researchers are not and will not be reduced accordingly.
I hope to come for a few days later this spring and would like to discuss your possibilities of updating the helpful international Portal for NS-Era Cultural Assets sources, which is now SERIOUSLY out of date for many of the countries/repositories covered.
Please advise, as I hate to have to publish my negative comments about this Portal in which many of us had great hopes.