Plan a Research Visit
About Our Collections
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Library maintains over 17 million pages of documents, 150,000 audiovisual items, and 50,000 books. Among these materials are the personal papers of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, as well as those of various individuals and organizations associated with the Roosevelts.
Several thousand pages of documents, as well as a portion of our audiovisual items have been digitized and can be viewed online through Search Our Collections. However, only a small portion of our holdings are available digitally, so we encourage you to make an in-person visit. Grants-in-aid for research support are available through the Roosevelt Institute and you can Contact the Archives to request a list of freelance researchers who can conduct more indepth research on your behalf.
About the Archives | Search Our Collections | More Online Resources
Research Services | Ask the Archivist
Notice to Researchers:
Archival Collections Return to Library
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As of Friday, April 26, 2013, the Roosevelt Library succesfully returned all of its archival collections to the renovated Library building. All materials that have been stored off-site since 2010 are now back at the Library and available to researchers. We appreciate the patience of all of our researchers throughout the project.
Access to both the research room and special temporary exhibit will be through the Library's rear loading dock area until the public opening of our new museum in July of 2013. Read more about our countdown to the opening.
Research Room: When You Arrive
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Library's research room is open from 8:45 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.
Monday through Friday, except on federal holidays. There is no fee to conduct research
and no pre-application or pre-appointments are necessary. There are four set "pull"
times per day when archival materials can be retrieved on your behalf. These times
are as follows: 9:15 A.M., 11:00 A.M., 2:00 P.M., and 3:45 P.M. We recommend arriving
far enough ahead of a given pull time to both register and effectively identify the
materials of interest to you.
- Upon entering the Library building, please introduce yourself to the security personnel at the welcome desk and ask to be directed to the research facilities.
- Keep your photo ID handy when you enter the research room.
- An archivist will ask you to complete a Researcher Application in order to obtain a Library-issued researcher identification card.
To save time, your Researcher Application can be printed off, filled out, and brought with you when you come for your in-person visit. Researcher cards cannot be issued in advance by mail because photo ID is required at the time of application.
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Work with an archivist to identify the materials you wish to use in your research, and then submit a request for retrieval of those materials at a designated pull time (see above). Please see Research Services for more information about how the staff can help you prior to your visit.
Before You Obtain a Researcher Identification Card
All researchers must adhere to certain security measures so that the historical materials will be preserved for future generations. We require that you review the following orientation materials *in person* before receiving a researcher card:
National Archives Orientation Presentation
FDR Library Orientation Handout
Please note that the FDR Library operates on a clean research room policy. This means that all researcher belongings, including notebooks, folders, purses, briefcases, laptop cases, pens, etc., must remain in the designated area outside the research room. Lockers are available to secure personal items. Exceptions to this rule are laptops, digital cameras, and flatbed scanners, which are permitted in the research room. Notepaper and pencils will be provided by the Library staff. More information about our policies is available on the Research Services page.
Prepare for Your Visit
Special Weather Notice: During the winter months, inclement weather sometimes prompts the delay or closure of the Library. If you plan to visit during these periods, please dial the Library's weather line at (845) 486-7777 to determine the Library's status each day. |
An archivist is always available in the research room to assist you in finding the
materials you need, but coming to the research room with a general idea of which collections
you would like to look at will allow more time for conducting your research. Information
about how an archivist can assist you with your research can be found at Research Services. We do not pull materials for researchers in advance, but we invite you to Ask the Archivist for additional information about our holdings and resources.
Before you visit us at the FDR Library, there are several steps you can take to make your time here as productive as possible. The first is to familiarize yourself with the secondary sources related to your topic.The more you know about your topic and the people and events involved, the more efficiently you will be able to perform primary source research. You can find information about secondary sources related to your topic by using our online Book Catalog or exploring historical and biographical features on our website.
Next, take advantage of our online Finding Aids. These tools will help you to determine which materials in our collections may be helpful to you and where those papers are located.
The Roosevelt Institute supports a program of small grants-in-aid, not to exceed $2,500, in support of research on the "Roosevelt years" or clearly related subjects. For more information please consult the Roosevelt Institute's website.
Please see Map & Directions for information about location and transportation. We also recommend exploring the online resources available through the Dutchess County Tourism website to find places to stay, restaurants and other attractions in the area.
For more information about doing research at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential
Library, please consult the
FAQs — Research at the FDRL. For general information about visiting FDR Library & Museum, call 1 (800) FDR-VISIT.
