Information For:
Library Renovation
Major renovation of the Roosevelt Library begins in the winter of 2009. With the exception of two wings added in 1972 in honor of Mrs. Roosevelt, it is the first overhaul of the Roosevelt Library since it was completed in 1941. The new work will carefully preserve the building's historic appearance, while bringing its archives and museum up to the National Archives's standards for the long-term preservation of historic collections. New drainage, plumbing, and roofing systems and new electrical, security, fire protection and other systems will address longstanding facility problems. Museum visitors and researchers will enjoy improved amenities, including, for the first time, full accessibility for people in wheelchairs. The project is expected to run for three years with a budget of $35 million in federal funding. New permanent museum exhibits are being installed with $5.5 million in private funds raised by the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute.
Throughout the renovation, both the museum and the research room will remain open.
New Permanent Exhibits
In the course of the building renovation, outmoded exhibits in the Library's permanent galleries are being replaced with new state-of-the-art installations on the life and times of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. The new exhibits will tell the story of the Roosevelt presidency beginning in the depths of the Great Depression and continuing through the New Deal years and the Second World War. The exhibits are designed to help visitors experience the Roosevelt presidency as people living in the Roosevelt era did, while covering their early years and FDR's heroic struggle to 
regain his strength and political career after polio. Concluding galleries will consider the Roosevelt legacy today and guide visitors through Mrs. Roosevelt's work in the years following the President's death. Special interactives, immersive audio-visual theaters, and powerful treatments of famous and not-so-famous speeches, correspondence, and rarely seen artifacts will convey the dramatic story of the Roosevelt era. The exhibit design firm of Gallagher and Associates is conducting the redesign and reinstallation with private funding provided by the Roosevelt Institute.
Visible Storage Project
In the course of the upcoming renovation of the Roosevelt Presidential Library, 4,200 square feet of space will be made available for new museum collection storage.
The Roosevelt Library proposes to develop these spaces as "open" or visible storerooms, designed to make the collections available for public viewing while still safeguarding their long-term preservation and security. Click here to read more about this exciting initiative and to learn how you can help the Library launch this project.
Related Press Materials
March 11, 2009 - From the Director: Renovation Funding
