National Archives Pushes to Shift Presidential Library Maintenance Costs to Private Foundations

WASHINGTON — The National Archives and Records Administration is negotiating with private presidential foundations to transfer responsibility for day-to-day operational costs at the nation’s 14 presidential libraries — including everything from lawn care to toilet cleaning — in a move officials say will save taxpayers millions and allow the agency to focus on its core mission of preserving and digitizing historical records.

Currently, the federal government spends $91 million annually on the libraries, with a deferred maintenance backlog of $123 million across the system. Negotiations launched this spring with each foundation are expected to shift roughly $27 million in operational expenses to the private entities, freeing funds for records processing, Freedom of Information Act requests and digitization efforts, NARA officials said Monday.

“Presidential libraries have grown in scope and purpose, and with that growth — and with anticipated future additions to the system — comes increased expenditures to be borne by the American taxpayers,” Jim Byron, senior advisor to Archivist of the United States Colleen Shogan, said in a statement. “Operational changes can and should be made to ensure the long-term health of these American treasures.”

The 14 libraries, spanning Herbert Hoover through Donald Trump’s first term, are operated under individual public-private agreements. Private donors typically finance construction, but once the buildings are turned over to NARA, federal appropriations cover most utilities, janitorial services, groundskeeping and minor repairs. Even small fixes — such as a broken door hinge — can take weeks or months because they must go through federal contracting rules in Washington.

Two additional libraries are in the planning stages for Trump’s second term and for former President Joe Biden, which would push the total to 16.

Without reform, Byron warned, rising costs could force cuts to archival work or even temporary library closures during government shutdowns. “The alternative is to do nothing and allow NARA’s appropriations to go to lawn care and toilet cleaning at the expense of FOIA processing,” he said.

The push builds on a 2018 agreement in which the George W. Bush Presidential Foundation assumed a larger share of its library’s operating costs in Texas. Similar individualized deals are now being discussed with the remaining foundations.

Luke Nichter, a Chapman University historian and frequent researcher at presidential libraries, endorsed the shift.

“It now takes about as much money to build a presidential library as it does to run for president — about a billion dollars,” Nichter said. “The American taxpayer should not bear that. The administration deserves credit for starting an important conversation about the future of these cherished institutions.”

The Obama Presidential Center in Chicago is a notable exception: the Obama Foundation opted for a fully private model and did not build a traditional library for NARA to operate. Instead, the Archives digitized Obama-era records and stores them at an existing federal facility.

NARA emphasized that any new cost-sharing agreements will preserve public access to the libraries and their exhibits, while ensuring the agency can prioritize declassification and release of historic files, including ongoing work on the John F. Kennedy assassination, Martin Luther King Jr. surveillance records and other high-profile collections.

Negotiations are expected to conclude over the coming year, with changes phased in as each foundation agrees.

--REAL AMERICA'S VOICE

#####