Proposed Changes to NARA Genealogy Spaces

The President of the Fairfax Genealogical Society recently sent out an e-mail to Society members in which he passed on news about proposed changes to the areas at NARA where genealogists use NARA materials, work with consultants, and participate in genealogy education programs. The changes would include: relocation of the Finding Aids/Consultants to the library, a reduction in the number of microfilm readers, the use of “pull on demand” for retrieval of microfilm and elimination of digital access for researchers to microfilm collections, relocation of the microfilm reading room to the old Finding Aids/Consultants room, elimination of the Lecture Room, and conversion of the spaces currently occupied by Military Research, Room 24, and the lobby area with the sign-in desk and volunteers’ desk to Museum/Shop spaces. In sum, the area for consultations and use of Finding Aids would be inadequate, with conversations and research going on in the same small spaces, and orientation and education programs would suffer from lack of spaces.

If you wish to register objections to the proposed changes, it is recommended that you write to the Acting Archivist, the nominee for the position of Archivist, the Senator who is responsible for the Archivist’s confirmation hearings, and two Congressmen known to have taken an interest in the National Archives (as well as your own congressional representatives) at the following addresses:

Ms. Adrienne C. Thomas
Acting Archivist
The National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, MD 20740-6001

Mr. David S. Ferriero
Andrew W. Mellon Director of
The New York Public Libraries
Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street
New York, NY 10018
(Archivist nominee)

The Honorable Tom Carper
United States Senate
513 Hart Building
Washington, DC 20510
(responsible for the Archivist confirmation hearings)

The Honorable Richard Durbin
United States Senate
309 Hart Senate Building
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable José E. Serrano
United States House of Representatives
2227 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-3216