Me, "I have only been to one Presidential Library. The J.F.K Library in Boston. I have to admit it really brings the history he was dealing with alive and this is the exact reason why former Presidents have presidential Libraries.
It is to let people understand what was going on during a presidency and why it should matter to present day U.S. citizens. Sure, it's a legacy thing. Presidents don't want to be forgotten. They want a sort of way of showing what were their successes and less so their failures. It's really a way of not being forgotten, rewritten, or marginalized by history and historians. Plus, it gives living presidents a place to hold events and help their parties future Presidential candidates. Think of it as a Mini-White House with no control over the country but kind of political help for their party."
From article, "Obama Foundation's daunting task: Raising money for his library"
(After turning over the White House next month to a successor who aims to scuttle some of his key initiatives, President Barack Obama and his foundation will embark on an epic endeavor — racing for mega-donors who can rocket-launch their fund drive for a presidential library and museum on Chicago's South Side.
The scale is daunting: While Obama's library planners decline to provide a cost estimate, the George W. Bush library and endowment broke records at more than $500 million, the latest example of skyrocketing costs. Adding to the pressure, the Obama project is the first to be built under sharply increased federal requirements for a sustaining endowment. Obama chose to add another hurdle by pledging not to personally raise money for the project during his term in office.
The Obama Presidential Center, which will include a library, museum and offices in historic Jackson Park on the South Side, will be the 14th presidential library in a system founded in 1939 by the National Archives and Records Administration. Several more presidential libraries pre-date that program.
The system is kept afloat by public and private money. The national archive spent $67 million in the last fiscal year on library operations and programs, with additional support coming from privately funded library endowments. Local governments and universities often provide backing too.The Obama Foundation will raise private funds for the center's construction and for an endowment to assist the National Archives' operation of the library and museum. The foundation must raise a sum equal to 60 percent of construction costs for the endowment, up from a 20 percent requirement previously in place.)
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