When the Obama Presidential Center opened to the public in Chicago, much of the attention naturally went to what visitors could see first: the architecture, museum exhibits, gathering spaces and the Chicago Public Library branch on campus. But the opening also raised a question that sounds simple until you look closer: what exactly is a presidential library?
Despite the name, presidential libraries are not public libraries in the everyday sense. They are part archive, part museum, part classroom and part civic memory—created to preserve the records, artifacts and stories of a presidency so people can study them long after an administration ends.
For researchers, teachers, students, journalists and curious visitors, they offer a direct connection to the decisions and moments that shaped modern history. They also show how libraries are changing, as physical spaces, digital collections and the systems behind discovery work together to help people find and use information.
More than a library
The modern presidential library system began with Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Before Roosevelt, presidential papers were generally treated as personal property. They could end up with families, collectors or private institutions, which made it harder for the public to understand and study the work of an administration. Roosevelt took a different approach: he donated his papers to the American people and opened the first presidential library in Hyde Park, New York, in 1941.
That decision reshaped how presidential history is preserved. Today, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) administers the presidential library system and is responsible for preserving presidential records and making them available for research, education and public access.
Each presidential library reflects the story of the administration it represents, while bringing together public, educational and research functions in one place.
They preserve presidential records and artifacts, present museum exhibitions that place an administration in historical context, support educational programs for schools and visitors, host public events and community conversations, and provide research access for historians, journalists and scholars.
Rather than simply honoring one person, these institutions protect a public record. They give people the chance to examine history through original materials, not just memories or summaries.
Preserving history for future generations
The scale of these collections is hard to overstate.
Across the presidential library system, NARA preserves more than 600 million pages of textual materials, nearly 20 million photographs, more than 20 million feet of motion picture film, nearly 100,000 hours of audio and video recordings, more than 500 TB of electronic data and close to 750,000 museum objects. These collections include handwritten speeches and policy memos, diplomatic gifts, campaign materials and letters from everyday citizens.
These materials help researchers trace how decisions were made, how policies changed and how major events unfolded.
They are useful far beyond academic research.
Teachers use primary sources to make history feel immediate. Students learn how government works by studying real records. Journalists look for context. Families encounter exhibits that connect national events to personal stories.
That is what makes presidential libraries compelling: they are not static vaults. At their best, they are active cultural institutions where history remains open to questions, conversation and new interpretation.
A new chapter for presidential libraries
The Obama Presidential Center brings that evolution into sharper focus.
The Center is a privately operated civic campus in Chicago’s Jackson Park, with museum experiences, public programming, community spaces and a Chicago Public Library branch. Separately, the official Barack Obama Presidential Library is administered by NARA as the first fully digital presidential library.
That distinction matters.
The Center is the public-facing campus; NARA retains legal and physical custody of the presidential records and artifacts, preserving originals in secure archival facilities and making records available through a digital-first model.
The model reflects the reality of modern government information. An estimated 95 percent of the Obama administration’s presidential records were born digital, including emails, photographs, videos, documents and other electronic formats that never existed on paper.
Instead of asking researchers to come to one physical archive, the Obama Presidential Library is built around online access. It is a practical response to the scale of digital records and to a public that increasingly expects trusted information to be available wherever they are.
Libraries continue to evolve
Presidential libraries may be rooted in the past, but they point directly to the future of libraries.
Whether digitizing millions of records, designing interactive exhibits or connecting physical collections with online access, these institutions show how libraries continue to adapt to new formats, new expectations and new ways of learning.
The work behind the scenes matters just as much. Staff need reliable systems to organize materials, support day-to-day service, manage resources and help people find what they need with confidence.
The Chicago Public Library branch located within the Obama Presidential Center operates as part of the Chicago Public Library network, leveraging the Polaris ILS, a Clarivate library software solution. Polaris supports the operational side of the library’s experience. However, visitors may not notice the technology. And that is the point. When the right systems are in place, staff can spend less time managing friction and more time connecting people with information.