Information For:
Plan a Research Visit
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. In the event that you are unable to make a personal research visit, please Contact the Archives and ask us for a list of freelance researchers who you can hire to conduct more indepth research on your behalf.
About the Archives | Search Our Collections | More Online Resources | Research Services
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.
- Upon entering the Library building, inform the security guard at the desk that you would like to do research.
- The guard will ask to see your photo identification (drivers license or school-issued ID) and ask you to keep your ID handy when you enter the research room.
- The guard or a staff member will escort you to 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..
- Work with an archivist to identify the materials you wish to use in your research. Please see Research Services for more information about how the staff can help you.
Researchers at work in the Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Research Room.
All researchers must adhere to certain security measures so that the materials will be preserved for future generations of researchers for years to come.
The Library operates a clean research room. This means that all of a researcher's belongings, including notebooks, folders, 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 pencils, laptops, flatbed scanners, and digital cameras, which are permitted in the research room. Notepaper and pencils will be provided by the Library staff. Please read more about our policies at Research Services.
Prepare for Your Visit
Special Weather NoticeDuring 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. |
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 involved, the more efficiently you will be able to perform your 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 selected Bibliographies. 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.
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 files 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.
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.
About the Archives | Search Our Collections | More Online Resources | Research Services | Ask the Archivist
