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Clinton Library Opening Draws ThousandsThe long-anticipated William J. Clinton Presidential Library opened in downtown Little Rock, Arkansas, amid a weeklong avalanche of ceremony and spectacle designed to keep the 30,000 visitors to the event talking about it for years. A presidential fun run kicked off the week November 13, followed by plays, lectures, book-signings, concerts, a film festival, tours, a fashion show, poetry readings, and what was billed as “Arkansas’ largest-ever fireworks display.”As honorary “curator-in-chief,” former President Clinton (assisted by daughter Chelsea) handed over the keys to the $165-million, 150,000-square-foot facility to U.S. Archivist John Carlin at the end of a rainy November 18 dedication ceremony. At that moment it became the 12th presidential library run by the National Archives and Records Administration. “This library tells the story of America at the end of the 20th century,” Clinton said in his dedication speech, “of a dramatically different time in the way we worked and lived.” He added, “The thing I want most is for people who come to this library, whether they’re Republicans or Democrats, liberals or conservatives, to see that public service is noble and important, that the choices and decisions leaders make affect the lives of millions of Americans and people across the world.” In the archives building, Director David Alsobrook heads a staff of 30 archivists and other professionals charged with maintaining an estimated 80 million pages, 2 million photos, 88,000 rolls of film, 80,000 museum artifacts, 12,500 videotapes, 20 million e-mails, and Clinton’s personal collection of 7,900 books. Some of them have been working on organizing Clinton’s policy papers for possible release in early 2005, pending President Bush’s approval. However, most of the archives (those that aren’t classified) won’t be accessible to scholars until January 2006, five years after Clinton’s last day in office. By then, Alsobrook’s staff will be working full-time to answer FOIA requests for specific documents and determine which can be released. Posted November 19, 2004. |
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