Inside the Obama Presidential Center

[00:00:28]Good evening everyone and thank you so much for joining us tonight. Uh my name is Raluca Barvu and I am the adult programming specialist at the Aangquin Area Public Library. Uh tonight tonight we are excited to to welcome Kenvy Phillips, inaugural director of the um Barack Obama Presidential Library and Tina Chen, executive vice president of programs for the Obama Foundation uh for a special ver for a virtual presentation exploring the Obama Presidential Library and Center. uh they will discuss the first digital pres uh presidential library and the Obama presidential center as a vibrant community hub economic anchor and the beacon of democracy. This program offers a unique opportunity to learn how presidential history is preserved, accessed and shared and how these records deepen our understanding of recent history and democratic values. Uh we're excited to tell you that we are sharing this program alongside 40 neighboring libraries. Uh this is a Zoom webinar, so your microphone and camera will be turned off. Uh you can enable close captioning and ask questions through the Q&A feature and Cami and Tina will gladly answer them at the end of the presentation. Uh also this webinar is being livereamed on YouTube on the Aangquin Area Public Library YouTube channel. Uh a recording of this will also be available uh on each of the 40 libraries YouTube channels within uh the few next days. So I will now turn it over to Phillips to Cami Phillips. Thank you so much Cami for being here tonight.

[00:02:19]Oh wow. Thank you so much Haruka. I really appreciate um the invitation. Um and I appreciate the Alan.

[00:02:28]>> We can't hear you. I mean, I can't hear you.

[00:02:31]>> Oh, wait. Can you hear me now?

[00:02:35]Oh, wait.

[00:02:38]Am I mute? I'm not muted.

[00:02:41]You still can't hear me.

[00:02:45]Oh, this is no good.

[00:02:49]You're muted. Oh, can you hear me?

[00:02:54]I'll start again.

[00:02:56]Um, thank you for the invitation. I want to make sure you can hear me. Can I get a thumbs up? Tina, can you hear me?

[00:03:06]>> Okay, great. Thank you. Um, technical difficulties um have already started. I want to I want to thank uh the Aangquin Li Area Library and all of the neighboring libraries for inviting us and inviting you all to share with us as we talk a little bit about this new model um the Barack Obama Presidential Library and the Obama Presential Center.

[00:03:28]I will focus on the library aspect and our colleague Tina Chin will talk more about the center in just a moment. Um, I just wanted to also give a thank a special thanks to some of the um Obama Presidential Library staff that are in the audience and then also just all of you, thank you for coming out and for sharing in in this evening program. So without that, without further ado, I'll get started um discussing the Barack Obama Presidential Library. But before um we talk too much about uh President Obama's library, I want to talk a little bit about about presidential libraries generally and here we have a um a image from the opening of the George W. Bush Library when President Obama was in office and the other living presidents were able to attend um that opening. And with that to say, there are 16 presidential libraries repres represented in the National Archives and Records Administration system, starting with President Hoover and going all the way down to um President Biden. So there are staff working um to preserve the records and make available those histories and those records from those different administrations throughout um the National Archives and Records Administration. And there are presidential sites that are um explore the history and the administrations of other pres and lives of other presidents including President Jefferson and Muchello, President Washington and Mount Vernon and and also uh President Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois. There are presidents that are explored all over the place and those sites those early presidents those sites are not stewarded by the National Archives. So the presidential sites that are from Hoover to to Biden are the ones where the official records of the administration are held by the government and held for you the the public. And we make those available for you to be seen. And what you can find in those records from all of those administrations are the official records, the emails, the letters, the memos, the schedules, the diaries, um the the legislation and the acts um that are in that. So these official records, also the gifts, every president um has received gifts from the public, both the American public and internationally. So those materials and things that the president and first lady and first families receive as gifts um due to them seeing in office and while they're in office are held by the government by the the the national records of the national archives and we hold those and also we we like to make those available to you as well for exploration, for um exhibits, for loans, for display as well as just for study and to see just kind of some of the things that folks um feel are appropriate to share and give to the president. And we'll talk a little bit about that in just a moment. In addition to the records and the gifts that are received while the presidents are in office, they some some administrations or some of our libraries hold materials from prior prior to the administration and they hold uh records from postadministration as well as some of the materials of people adjacent to the president and the first family. So the first lady's records maybe some of their cabinet members may have materials that are being held in those within those libraries as well. So you can get a full understanding of how the government was run under a particular administration.

[00:07:11]That being said, all of these all of these up until President Obama, all of these libraries, uh, the president after he leaves office would form a foundation. And that foundation would work with the National Archives and Records Administration to find a site, build a site, and they build those sites under particular specs um to make sure that the preservation of those materials are um up to code or up to a federal regulation. Um and then they start out to figure out how we can make sure that we make these things available. There's usually a museum as well as a library with a reading room where you can go in and you can physically engage with all of the materials from the administration. Well, President Obama, this is our homepage. By the way, our library is the first born digital site, born digital administration. More than 95% of the records that were produced during the Obama administration, all eight years were born digitally. So there's lots of material that's already in electronic format. Um not to be uh confused by the vast quantity of that material. The 5% that is still textual, that's paper, that's physical things that say this this is what it what happened is over 25 million physical pages. So there's lots of material in this in this administration to explore.

[00:08:38]There's more than 30,000 artifacts.

[00:08:40]Again, we'll talk about that in just a moment. This actually equals over 75 terabytes of images. So, there's lots of video footage and also still footage of the president and the first and the first lady as they traveled, as they were in meetings, as they met with the public and also did just the general work of of running the country. Um, and there's also quite a bit of video. Um, and I'm just going to stop for a minute and see if I can share this video with you all.

[00:09:17]I'm not quite sure when it started. We know that President Kennedy and President Johnson um each used a number of pens when they were when they signed bills and the clerk believes that it started um with either Truman or Roosevelt. And the practice is that a the president uses a number of pens um and g then gives the pens to people who worked particularly hard on a bill who sponsored the bill who really fought to get it done or to whom the bill means a great deal. 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19. No, there's one more.

[00:09:55]This is the most pens that we have ever used. Um it will be 20 pens today.

[00:10:00]He has gotten much better at this. He in fact jokes about this actually um that he's at the beginning it was does not um come naturally to use a number of pens when you're signing your name and so but he has now gotten very much in the groove.

[00:10:15]>> Today will be interesting because this is almost twice as many as he's used before and he signed off on 20. So I'll just just pass it back upstairs that we want to be all right. Two more two more pens.

[00:10:29]22.

[00:10:32]And since he's a lefty, as you can see, actually, um this is um done so that somebody who's left-handed when they sign it, it's facing Hey, do you know what the record is on number of pens used on a bill? We have 22 today.

[00:10:50]The president used 40 pens in 1997 to sign the Taxpayer Relief Act. Is that right, Tim? Okay. Thank you. Okay, bye.

[00:10:59]Great work.

[00:11:00]>> Well, we don't know if that's a record or what.

[00:11:02]>> We don't know where that was. Tim just said he'd found that one. Um, so we'll have to do a Google search and see if we can figure out what the what the actual record is, but I bet you that's pretty close.

[00:11:22]Today, after almost a century of trying, today, after over a year of debate, today after all the votes have been tallied, health insurance reform becomes law in the United States of America. Awesome.

[00:11:44][applause] [applause] [applause] So that as a video is an example of both some of the video footage but also some of the artifactual materials and things that are kept to make sure that we understand exactly what happened and how it happened and also to have keepsakes and souvenirs. So we have one we have plenty of pens from the many acts that President Obama has signed and we actually are keep a record of which pen went with which leg pieces of legislation. So, we have quite a few pins in our collection as well as many other things, but also the video footage. So, we understand exactly what was that like and what does that mean?

[00:12:39]And I, you know, before I started working here, I didn't realize that, you know, when a piece of legislation is signed, it's signed with multiple multiple pins so that when you give those gifts um away to to people who are significant to that legislation, they all literally have a piece of history um holding there. And also we are able to keep a piece of that history. Um at present um when a when a president leaves office for five years the records are for a lack of a better term embargoed and they are not open for public scrutiny in that time. We take the time to start organizing the material. we take the time. We've been digitizing material at the Obama Library over that 5-year period and since um but there's lots of work that needs to be done to make sure that we get ready so that when the public is able to request via the Freedom of Information Act um materials, make those requests. We're able to make those requests. The Obama Presidential Library records became um available J in January of 22. um by way of the Freedom of Information Act uh legislation. So, if you're interested in in um go forward, no, I don't want to play the thought again. If you're interested in requesting some material, if there are some things that you want to know, please feel free to visit our website at obama library.gov gov and go to the digital research research room where you can find if you look here there are finding aids because like I said we've been fulfilling these freedom of information act requests for the last four years so lots of images as well as documents and emails and other things have already been made available to the public and you can find them and explore those finding aids through the digital research room. You also have a button here to submit a foyer request. If something that you're looking for is not available, please feel free to submit a foyer request.

[00:14:43]Also, understand that there's a couple things I want you to understand about the Freedom of Information Act request.

[00:14:49]We want you to be as specific as possible, creating dates and timelines and things so you can get the specific information you have. As I mentioned earlier, there's millions upon millions of pages of material and we go through all of it to make sure that we fulfill the requests and get you all the information that we can. Also, you should know there are some information that is classified. There are lots of classified documents that we cannot release to the public for um security reasons and a variety of other other reasons. So those things we will let you know if something is not available because it it breaches some sort of classification or some sort of privacy restriction. So please feel free to reach out and if you have questions um reach out to us at the obamal library.gov um we have the email address and and whatnot and you can reach us there.

[00:15:39]We are connected through the National Archives and Research Administration catalog. So our records along with many other records, military records, other other presidential libraries, administrations. We have information um through the NAR catalog, but specifically about President Obama. You can come to us.

[00:16:01]Then I want to talk a little bit about the finding about the artifacts. Like I said, there's over 30 30,000 artifacts.

[00:16:07]One of the largest items that we have um in that collection is over 12 feet tall and like 5t wide. It was a Christmas decoration of um of one of the Obama's dogs, Bow. And then there's also many dogs of bow and also Sunny. There's um uh Mrs. Obama's dresses. There's jewelry. There's books. There's um jerseys and other things. Quite a few of these materials will be on display at the Obama Presidential Center that will be opening next week. And again, if you have any question about any of the items that we have in our collection, please feel free to reach out to us, obli.gov, archives.gov. Or if you have information about the Freedom of Information Act, please reach out to us. But by way of the understanding that there are lots of artifacts and things that will be on display with our partners in presidential uh history and legacy, the Obama Foundation. I want to introduce our colleague Tina Chin who is executive vice president of programming and a great great partner in making sure that we are keeping the legacy holding it um for you all to to explore the administration.

[00:17:20]>> Oh thank you Kenvy and thank you to the Algangan Area Public Library for organizing this. Um uh I'm Tina Chen as as Keny said I'm um the executive vice president for programs here at the Obama Foundation. Um I also did all eight years at um the Obama White House uh serving first as the director of the office of public engagement, um the outreach office for the president, um then six years as Mrs. Obama's chief of staff and all eight years as running the White House Council on Women and Girls.

[00:17:50]I have to say, Kennedy, I loved that you said, you know, showed that video because I was there. I think I was the person on the other end of the phone to Lisa Brown, our cabinet secretary, saying, "We actually need more pens because," and I do remember he was pretty annoyed when we had to sign because he kept saying, "I have a really short name. You really want me to use 22 pens to do that?" Um, and that's because there were so many people involved in the passage of the ACA. So, there were many legislators involved like Speaker Pelosi. Um we we I don't remember call I think we gave one to the to Senator Kennedy's family because he had passed during the fight to pass the ACA but lots of other folks who were involved and including the young man you see um next to him who was a young man who his mother had died because she did not have health insurance during the course of the fight for that and his grandmother um brought him for the bill signing and I recall he did not come in a suit and tie. my my team in the public engagement team ran to Macy's which is a couple of blocks from the White House to buy him that um uh lovely you know um outfit um that he had on. Um so there's sort of sort some of the things that happened behind the scenes you know at at the White House and is the material that's preserved. Um I think as can be said but it bears repeating because it's a little confusing. We are a new model for how to do presidential centers and libraries.

[00:19:10]Um, as Keny noted, the other, you know, um, although some of them are changing, but the original, um, before us, uh, way that presidential libraries were organized were, um, that the president would raise the funds to build the library and endow the operations of it and then turn the library and the keys over to the National Archives so that, you know, the historical material could be stored there. For example, if you've ever been to the JFK uh uh excuse me, Linda May Johnson's library, [snorts] you know, the middle floors in that seven or eight story building are actually not open to the public because that's where the paper is stored. And that was President Obama's insight was, well, we don't actually have that much paper um because of the native digital nature of our um presidency. Um, and so the idea was to let the archives hang on to all of the records and the artifacts and we would separately create our own Obama Foundation. You know, President Bush has his own foundation that does programming. We would create a foundation that does programming, which I oversee, but also operate a physical space as well. And we would build a physical space as a presidential center and to display then the um artifacts and that we would borrow from the national archives and some of which we have that are not presidential that were you know from his childhood or from the campaign um we would also display u but then we would also do programming and build something that's a community center on the SAS side of Chicago. So before I get into that in more detail um let me show you something a little message um from from someone um about it. Um I will say you we are holding this particular webinar on an auspicious night because it is exactly one week from today when our um uh we will hold the opening ceremony for the Obama Presidential Center. Um you can live stream that on oama.org at 11:00 a.m. Central time um a week from today, next Thursday, June 18th. And on June 19th, on Junth, we will fully open um the Obama Presidential Center to the public. So let me just show you. We've got new material hot off the presses um of a little bit of a a a short video that tells you who we are and what we're about.

[00:21:16]I like to think of the Obama Presidential Center as a tribute to what happens when ordinary people come together to do extraordinary things.

[00:21:23][music] Here on Chicago Southside, the Obama Presidential Center offers the chance to explore a worldclass [music] museum and gather together for celebrations of all kinds. It adds to the vitality of Jackson Park, [music] adding new gardens, a larger playground, and scenic paths for an early morning jog or an afternoon stroll. [music] At the Obama Presidential Center Museum, exhibits explore the fullness of the American story. [music] From the promise of our founding documents to the movements that challenged [music] us to live up to them, you'll be able to walk through a full-scale replica of the Oval Office and relive [music] the moments that define my presidency.

[00:22:05]Experience the impact of our history-making first [music] lady and check out a few of her dresses, too. And at top the museum, you'll be able to take in some stunning panoramic views of the city we love. We designed the forum building with a focus on the creativity and imagination that's always defined this city. Here, programs and leadership trainings support and connect the next generation of change makers here in Chicago to [music] those from all around the world.

[00:22:33]Public libraries are essential [music] institutions and that's why the Obama Presidential Center offers a new branch of the Chicago Public Library and on the roof a [music] garden. At the center of it all, a public plaza welcome visitors for live performances and community [music] festivals. A huge green lawn to throw a frisbee or spread out a blanket.

[00:22:54]And once it turns cold, we'll open up the best sledding hill in the neighborhood. At Home Court, visitors not only come together to get active, but to take action. [music] That's the Obama Presidential Center. It couldn't be more important to us that it's [music] happening right here on the Southside. This is the place Michelle was born and raised. It's where I got a start as a community organizer. It's where we [music] bought our first house, built our family, and took the first steps on a journey that's still taking shape today. [music] It's the place we found our purpose. Now we hope to give something back.

[00:23:34][music] >> Hey, that was fantastic.

[00:23:40][laughter] >> Uh that is, as I said, you're one of the few people who've gotten to see this so far. It is up on YouTube, but it's brand new. It really describes, you know, the overall center. This is a great photo actually to leave up while I'm talking, Keny. Um so as the president said, you know, the center um when we open next week, we are on um 19 acres in the otherwise 500 acre uh Jackson Park on the south side of Chicago. We are a Chicago public park. So we're sitting on Chicago Parkland. Um the only ticketed space in the whole 19 acres are the four floors of the museum which occupy floors 2 through five of that tower, the tower at the center of of the 19 acres. Um uh when the other the other floors that we have, you know, um the opening floor on the first floor is open to the public, the ground floor. Um next to the and it looks like there's there's walkways and gardens on the top of it. That is the roof of the forum building that you saw the president mention in the film. The forum building is a two-story building.

[00:24:41]You know, one one story of it is below grade, another is right at grade. And it contains the auditorium that you saw some images of. Um there are six classrooms in there for programming. We have a fully kitted out um media suite for students and to learn how to do podcasting or record music or for actually famous artists to come and record something new. We have a full-ervice restaurant and we also have a cafe um our retail shop um and um uh lots of opportunities for programming.

[00:25:12]Um the south end which has a little boxes on the top of it. You can see um sort of a a garden looking piece. That's the roof of the Chicago branch of the Chicago Public Library. Um, so we really wanted a public space and a library.

[00:25:25]That's the library part of our institution as opposed to Kenby's. Um, is this newest branch of the Chicago Public Library that includes among, you know, all the usual things that a Chicago Public Library has a presidential reading room that has about 2,000 volumes that are represent books either written by the president or Mrs. Obama or ones that they selected that were influential to them or mean something to them. Um, and that's a non-irculating portion of the library that is just meant to inspire people and allow people to explore that. Um, we just opened actually a new case in there last week that includes several gifts that the president received, including, for example, the gift of a book that Pope Francis gave the president when he came to visit. Um, and um, then we have the playground that you saw, one and a halfacre playground, the great lawn that you saw the president um, sort of touting that will be a sledding hill in the winter. And the far south building that looks like it has got solar panels on the top there is an NBA quality basketball court because it is Barack Obama. So we've got a full full-on basketball court, our athletic center um where we will do programming. It also has classrooms. It's also our largest gathering space for folks to come and gather um where we will hold for example our democracy forum for our programming.

[00:26:35]Um I would also be remiss my revenue team would want me to say we are also available for rentals. So, we've already got, you know, major events um for other organizations that are happening on our campus um as folks, you know, find it as as a new gathering space for the public.

[00:26:50]Um we've already opened, we did a soft opening from May to June where we welcomed about 30,000 visitors um to come as we tested our systems before we fully open next week um and to see how many folks can come. Um for the ticketed spaces, um you know, we have tickets starting, you know, our adult ticketing will start at 30. $30 is is the average the actually regular ticket price. Um Illinois residents get a break at $26 a day. Um there's also um free Illinois resident days 52 days a week. I think those are Tuesdays which are actually sold out until November. Um our other uh weekend tickets are sold out through I believe the end of August, but we still have weekday tickets available and we will be issuing more tickets sort of on a rolling basis throughout the you know every month a new tunch of tickets will come out. Um we also will be offering some um tours. So for if you want to pay a little bit extra um there's a campus experience tour that you can reserve and then we will also have free spotlight tours that will pop up across various parts of the campus at different times.

[00:27:52]Um in addition to all of this and I I'm going to speak about our programming in a moment but I want to make sure I highlight one of the things that was very important to us when we were in the White House was the arts. you know, we really see art as an essential part of democracy and you know what um how we interpret it, how it inspires us and the president and the first lady have all you know former first lady mrs Obama were always you know real patrons of the arts and um wanted to see its importance and wanted to bring public art again here to the south side of Chicago. So on our campus you will find um 30 original commission works of art um spread throughout the campus. Of those only two are beside behind the payw wall. The rest of those um uh works are in front of the payw wall for people to enjoy in the public spaces. And because they were commissioned works, they'll be permanent on our space. And they were the artists who came in while we were under construction to really understand the space um and what was on it. And so they built to it. So when you come in, for example, to our hope and change lobby, which is a soaring threestory structure that has a belowground level that connects to a mezzanine level that connects to our first floor level, you will see a piece by Mark Bradford, the LA artist and collagist who has a three-story rendition and collage of the map of Chicago. You'll see a two-story tall rendition by Nick Cave, Chicago artist Nick Cave, and Marie Watts, who's a Native American artist who did collaborated for the first time on a three-dimensional piece that hangs that stretches two stories. And you'll see on the flip side of the building, the built part of the building, you cannot see from this this vantage point. The north side facade of our building has an 80s story tall um 80 foot rather not 80 stories 80 foot tall um painted glass installation by Ethiopian American artist um Julie Miritu that was inspired um by you know photos from the president's speech and John Lewis's engagement at the time of the crossing of the Edmond Pettis Bridge anniversary that indeed is actually the inspiration for the lettering that you'll see on the screen text um on the outside of the building. Um that inspiration for that screen test is actually an excerpt from the speech President Obama gave at that 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the cross the crossing of the Edund Pettis Bridge. Um that was part of the Montgomery to Selma march during the civil rights movement. Um and it speaks to things like, you know, oh what a glorious task we all have to build re constantly rebuild this democracy of ours. Um because it's a call to action for that. It's not intended to be able to be fully read. It's an inspiration.

[00:30:24]You can read the full text on our website, obama.org. You can also read it in several places in the interior of the museum. And the other place you can see it, there was a bit of a flash during the video of um our Skyrim, which is also a free free space to the public on the eighth floor of the building where you will be able to look out on the vistas of Chicago through the lettering.

[00:30:45]But stamped into the peak on the and of the ceiling of that uh soaring um place is a handstamped um art piece again installation by the artist Idris Khan who does a lot of work you know his work is um based on words stamped into art pieces of art and Idris took all of the words from that speech transferred them onto little stamps with the wording and handstamped those in the sort of blue color that is our Obama blue color. um on the ceiling as an inspiration for that. We will have a waterfeatured um garden by Maya Lynn and on our plaza which is called the John Lewis Plaza that you saw we will have a soaring arch by the um sculptor um Martin Purer um which is called bending the arc of the universe which you may recall you know is part of that Martin Luther King passage that President Obama is so fond of quoting. Um the arc of the moral universe bends slowly but it bends towards justice.

[00:31:44]Um uh and those again are all things that will be available and free for folks to enjoy. One of the ways we hope they will enjoy is another feature we will unveil next week. Um so you're among the first people to hear about it um and will be very available to folks starting on June 19th is um we want people to engage with our campus whether they can visit it or not, whether they're on a guided tour or not through um an audio guide. you know, we we are going to have some very innovative audio guides that we will unveil next week.

[00:32:14]Um, we got a collaboration together with Bloomberg Connects. Many of you who may be part of cultural institutions may already be familiar with Bloomberg Connects. It's an app um that Bloomberg has put out that many cultural institutions already use to put their guides on, to feature things about, you know, their upcoming events, to talk in depth about some of their collections.

[00:32:34]Um, we partnered with Bloomberg to create special guides um for different parts of our campus, including the art, um, including a family guide, including the interior of the museum, including some of, um, our stories about the campus and our architecture. Um, one of the things we had is we have some of the most famous voices um, in America and you will hear a narration by that. Um, President Obama and Tom Hanks introduce and and do the narration for the interior of the museum. Mrs. Obama um is the anchor for the arts um uh audio guide and then it the we have the artists themselves narrating and telling our listeners you know about their various pieces um of work. Um uh we've got um a little a children's version of this using Crease Summer who many u folks may know as the librarian from Abbott Elementary voicing over. She portrays the voices of B and Sunny. And because we have free high-speed Wi-Fi throughout the entire 19 acres, these guys will be something that we hope folks will just download on their phones and use them and be able to enjoy this space even though they may not have access to a guided tour. Um that this will be accessible. Um, this museum also has, you know, the president very much wanted to teach civics. And I think as you saw him describe in the video, the exhibit inside does not begin with him.

[00:33:51]He didn't want this to just be a story about his administration. He wanted this to be a story about the country. So, the first set of exhibits that you see when you step off the escalator, you know, onto the exhibit floor is the Declaration of Independence. That's what the first uh artifact is that you will see. um because this is a story about the country and how we worked towards a more perfect union. Um it then goes through the various movements and struggles that the country has had and our contradictions, our contradictions with Native Americans, the Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement. It then goes into a version uh a story about the movements that led up to shaping um the president's uh and the M and Mrs. Obama's experiences. So, the the Chicano movement, the women's movement, um the LGBTQ movement, um and then you get to the story of the Obamas, but even as you go through the story of our administration, for example, the Affordable Care Act or stories about protecting and defending the country, um we really tell those stories not only through the people who were in the administration, but also through average Americans. Um we tell the story of people who struggled during the economic recovery and their inspiration for some of the policies that we worked on. Um we talk about the cancer survivor Noma Canfield who I often think of um who died during the struggle for the ACA but really talked about what that meant you know to have cancer um and not have healthc care coverage. um the Sandy Hook families. Um so because the message we want people to take home is really you know it democracy um is only uh exist through the actions of individual citizens and then we have special interactive exhibits spread throughout um the four floors of the museum where we want people to learn about other change makers and what they're doing and for that we draw inspir inspiration from the programs that we've been running for the last decade at the Obama Foundation.

[00:35:43]We have global leadership training programs in the United States, in Africa, Asia, Pacific, and Europe. Um, we have opportunity programs for uh, young men and boys of color through My Brother's Keeper. Um, and Mrs. Obama's program, the Girls Opportunity Alliance has been working um, to help support adolescent girls education globally and right here in Chicago. Um, and so we take change makers and average folks who are doing work and we tell their stories throughout the museum as well. And because we want our visitors to leave with that inspiration. That's what they we want to take with them. I spoke to a young seven-year-old visitor during our soft opening um who was doing a book report on her visit. And one of the questions she had to answer was, "What is the message that you took away from your visit to the Obama Presidential Center?" And the seven-year-old said to me, "Well, the lesson she learned was that Barack Obama wants us to participate." Which was, "Okay, we got it. We did it. The seven-year-old got the got got the message and the answer for what we will do." Um I hope that you will see when you come to visit or you learn more about us that we will be doing programming on our campus as well not just our global programs. Um we will have speakers in the forum and musical performances. Um we're going to have um we are partnering with afterchool matters uh the leading afterchool programming um organization here in Chicago to do afterchool programming for the kids in our neighborhood. Um we're partnering with Urban Growers Collective, which does urban agriculture to do programming for um at the fruit and vegetable garden to teach folks about gardening and about native plants.

[00:37:11]Um we've got a water walkway. So we've got a westside organization called Peace Walkers 773 that will be hosting um senior walking programs um starting later on in the summer. Um and we'll be doing fun things like movies on the plaza um and musical performances. Um indeed, if you happen to be in Chicago, next weekend after we open on Junth, uh Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will be an open public session where we hope people come on to the park, do bubble making, do a a we've got a a plant bingo that we're going to, you know, have families do in the fruit and vegetable garden, um you know, do do some sports activities with the various Chicago mascots, um from our different um Chicago professional teams. Um, and that's the kind of programming we want to showcase this weekend, but we will continue to do for the many, many years that we will be open after next week when we are open 363 days a year. Um, a lot of this information about how to get tickets, how to, you know, work with, you know, get get engaged with us, what programming we will have, um, will all be available to you on Obama.org. So, I think Kenry's got that teed up to the our website. Um, obama.org, or, you know, is the website you can go to um to to learn about, you know, what else may be going on. You can use it to buy tickets. Um you can use it for group sales. Um we will have, you know, self-guided field trip materials available for educators. Um we actually have a civics wing on the third floor of the museum. and the president very much wanted to have a portion of the museum that was just dedicated to teaching about civics. And we have built, you know, curricula off that that um educators can download and use um um before they get to the museum and then during and after, you know, their their tour of the museum. [snorts] Um and so, you know, I think um with that, you know, I can stop and you know, we can probably answer both Kenny and I can answer questions and that's our website.

[00:39:04]So, please join us.

[00:39:10]Wow, thank you so much Tina and Cami. Uh we have uh many many questions uh from um people at home and I'm going to start with you Cami because the first few questions are about the library if that's okay. Um somebody is asking um can someone contribute to be a donor to the library now?

[00:39:35]Absolutely. Yes. Um you can on our website obama library.gov there is a space you go to about us there's a space where you can donate. There's a button to donate to specifically to the efforts of preserving the records of the Obama library. I'm sure also the Obama Foundation has um has an option to donate to the efforts that are happening on the south side of Chicago. Um we work together a great deal on preserving the records and digitizing the records and the Obama Foundation has been our primary funer for digitizing um the records along with as you know the government as we are a government agency part of a government agency but we also rely on the the contributions and efforts of of you all. So if you are inclined to help support us in um our efforts we would love to have it. You can you can find that information on our website.

[00:40:30]>> And I'll say we also are you know taking donations. We you know we you know the um operations now um for for this 19acre campus you know it's quite large plus our programs you know and you and we have founding membership um program as well and you can find that on our obama.org website.

[00:40:48]>> Okay. Uh since 95% of the records are digitized, is there backup protection against them being erased?

[00:40:58]Yes, we are part again we're part of the National Archives and Records Administration. And so there is a full infrastructure to ensure that both the textual or physical materials that are held within the agency or within stewarded with NAR are protected and covered both with from fire and other types of damage and and theft and all of that, but also the digital records. We have servers. We have backups. We have um hard drives. And there's lots of work to kind of transfer files to make sure that the format is in the most up-to-date format. Um, as you know, as we're creating um these different types of files, we don't use zip drives anymore. We don't use floppy discs anymore. That's a form of digital media.

[00:41:42]Also, even, you know, like the JPEGs and those types of things. We make sure that we keep those things up to date and we do have a full infrastructure and a full kind of support through our agency to make sure that we don't we have as little loss or no loss um degradation or otherwise.

[00:42:01]and also we are um keeping our IT security in terms of hacking and making sure that we keep those things safe in that way as well.

[00:42:11]>> Okay. I think there's a little confusion. People are asking if the library is a is at a different location than the center because you were talking about the Chicago Public Library that has a branch at the center but where is the Obama library?

[00:42:27]>> Yes, we are in a different location. Um, long story short, for a a good deal of time, for almost nine years or Yeah, nine years, we were in uh Hoffman Hoffman Estates, the suburb of Chicago, where we did a great deal of digitizing material and organizing material. Um, and just recently in last fall, we uh trucked almost 20 truckloads of material, um, including the records and the artifacts out to, uh, College Park, Maryland, where we have a major, um, headquartered office site in in um, in College Park, Maryland. So there's archives one which is the central kind of archives building which is in downtown DC um where we have offices and also have storage and materials held there but there's also a great deal of material that is held in College Park which is where we are located. Um, [clears throat] but I will also say we still have um a great deal of staff that are working remotely in the Chicago area and um are um working with those electronic materials to make sure that those foyer requests are are um fulfilled and also are looking forward to engaging with residents in the Chicago area in the suburbs um to do u community type inperson programming. ing and hybrid hybrid programming talking about archiving generally about government records generally and also very specifically about the Obama presidential library administration records. So we are both and then we also have staff here in College Park Maryland with DC Washington DC region where we have staff that are doing a lot of the same. The digitizing continues here. So, there's staff that are working to digitize material here, as well as there's staff that are working to engage and do in-person um programming as well as virtual programming from here. Like I'm in I'm in the DC area now um as well as in in the Chicago area.

[00:44:35]>> Okay. Thank you, Keny. And I guess all the following questions are going to be for you, Tina. Um, Audrey says that her senior group plans on visiting the library as well as um they're big fans of uh President Obama and she's asking what do you recommend them see first when they get there? Like what's the >> Well, there there there's a there is certainly a lot to see. I will say if you're coming with a group of seniors, one of the other things we've spent a lot of time um working on was accessibility. So I hope that you will find it both accessible um to folks you know who are um you know physically challenged but also you know we worked hard on our visual descriptions for um uh for those who are visually impaired and um you know equipment for the the the for for hearing impaired as well that we hope people will be able to use.

[00:45:25]Um the first thing to look at I I actually someone asked me also what was my favorite space. I do think one of my favorite spaces is the public space.

[00:45:32]This is here right here. You just saw it on it just flashed on the screen was the Mark Bradford. Um when you come into um and you can do it in the public without a ticket. Come into our first floor of the museum building. Um you will see this soaring um uh uh artwork that is in there. Um this is this piece right here by Mark Bradford. That that is that is the three-story piece I was referring to. Um that is a rendition of the map of Chicago and it's intended to evoke the great migration. um when you can see the train tracks and that really extends from below ground level all the way up to you know um our second story and it's it's it's it's amazing. Opposite it that you can't see on the other side is a um a piece by a Chicago artist Nick Cave um uh collaborating with Murray Watts on a textured 3D beaded and jingle bells piece. Um and we will it is not public edit. It only just got installed yesterday. We will unveil it next week.

[00:46:28]will be the first um uh portrait done together of uh the president, Mrs. Obama um together. Um and that lobby now for me has just become an amazing just soaring inspirational place. I will tell you one special artifact that we just received and will only be there for three months is um we just received last week um the Lincoln Bible from the Library of Congress and we are borrowing the Lincoln Bible which President Lincoln used um when he was inaugurated um and then President Obama used that Bible twice for both his inaugurations to be sworn in. And we actually now have that Bible. We will only have it for three months. It's right behind the case that holds the Declaration of Independence. So, you know, that that's a special thing that will be time limited to look at. [snorts] >> Okay. Uh we have some practical questions here about uh parking and public transportation.

[00:47:24]>> Yeah. No, I'm glad folks asked. So, we have a parking garage. It's not quite open yet. It will be open on Junth.

[00:47:30]About 420 spaces, I think, parking lot.

[00:47:33]Um there is paid parking and I think it's $26, but I can't I can't actually remember the specific price of parking.

[00:47:40]Um, I will say the number six Jeffrey bus stops right in front and the uh Chicago Transit Authority just added a brand new bus that will run an express they will run an express bus from downtown called the number 10. The number 10 express bus is going to run down Michigan Avenue from downtown directly to the Museum of Science and Industry which is just to our north and will stop right in front of ours. Um the metro the electric metro train um stop at 61st is just two blocks away. Um uh there is not an L-stop. Um that's that's close, but there will be an additional buses running from the L-top that's to the west, you know, further east to us.

[00:48:20]Um I'm especially excited about the number 10 bus. And I will say for the summer months this summer, Choose Chicago will be subsidizing um the big bus tour bus to come free actually to the Obama Presidential Center as well.

[00:48:33]Okay, I think that covers it. Um, somebody is asking if they can access the grounds before the 19th, maybe.

[00:48:41]>> No, no, >> we had soft opening from May 4th um until just this past Sunday. Um, but we are closed right now and I apologize. I saw a question in the chat about about the streets right now surrounding the center which are closed and I apologize for that. They are closed because we are building out um the security and the staging that we need to have the large you know um uh grand opening ceremony um a week from today on June 18th. Um as soon as that is over during overnight from the 18th to the 19th the security fencing will come down. I hope we'll be able to open reopen the streets for the 19th when things will sort of be a little more back to normal with public access. There will be no fencing surrounding um the grounds when we are fully opened. you'll be able to walk right off the sidewalk and right into our plaza and our buildings. Um so that will um that will unfortunately that won't happen until June 19th.

[00:49:36]>> Okay. Uh is Pres President Obama's birth certificate on site? [laughter] >> No, his birth certificate itself is not, but you can see artifacts uh from his time as his childhood in Hawaii. Um, one of the things I will say my two and a half-year-old granddaughter enjoyed is we actually have the plaster cast molding that he did in preschool, you know, so kids do where they but did a handprint, you know, in in in plaster that this one is was um actually encased in sort of blue and um we did a replica.

[00:50:09]So, one of the things our museum team did that's so much fun is create tactile um uh replications in various p places of some of our artifacts. So, we have a tactile replica of that handprint, which I will confess, my two and a half-year-old granddaughter loved putting her hand inside of young Barry Obama's hand.

[00:50:29]>> Um, they're asking about the architect and how they came up with the design for the building.

[00:50:36]>> Oh, yes. Our architects were Todd Williams and Billy Tienne. Um, if you know the University of Chicago, they were the architects behind the Logan Center, um, which was built several years ago on the campus of the University of Chicago, um, uh, in New York, you know, they did, um, the a wing of Lincoln Center, the new entryway, um, at Lincoln Center. Um, and, um, they were really chosen in part because of the architects who made a pitch. Um they were the ones who imagined a campus um who really thought not just about one building but what could a campus look like and what could an integration with the parkland around us. Um it was very intentional to really have as much park space as possible. 40% of our interior space is actually below grade to maximize um the amount of park space that we use. And like you know the the windows as you can see here um on the screen are really looking out to really engage with the exterior around us. um the shape of the building and I can't do it by myself but if Keny and I were together um you know the if you put another pair of hands shaped the way like my hands are and put them together um that is the inspiration for the shape of the building. So you can see sort of the knuckles of the hands come in with a different irregular shaping. Um and the message that is it's a shape that you cannot make by yourself but you need two people to cooperate to make that shape.

[00:51:54]Um there's been some talk about how we don't have any windows. Um and in fact those of you who are um in the museum cur curation space know that actually sunlight is not the best for artifacts and um so that you know you really don't want natural sunlight in those museum spaces and we are on a flight path for birds. So we were very conscious of what would what would happen with the flight pass for the birds on the places where we do have windows like in the um uh sport athletic center um we use bird strike glass for for for all of those.

[00:52:28]We've also done several other sustainability things on the campus. We dropped a sistern um underneath the women's garden to the north on the other north side of the tower to catch all our rainwater so that all our gray water is recaptured rainwater. And we dropped um geothermal pools at the south end so that all of our HVAC is coming from geothermal power.

[00:52:51]>> So is our branch actually.

[00:52:54]>> Oh, fantastic.

[00:52:55]>> Yes. Um, how much did President Obama and Michelle work with you to plan out the 19 acres?

[00:53:04]>> Oh, they were very involved. They're involved. Very involved. We learned some things. I've known them for a long time and I learned some new things about my boss. And turns out he's a frustrated architect because he got very deep into the design work with the architects. And there are several features including, you know, if you see the building, there's a little slanted cutout on one wall. And that actually was him. He sort of said this wall is too straight. You know, I think we want we I think we need another side of the building that looks like this so that no four sides of the building are either straight or the same. So, it was quite a challenging building to build. Um and he's actually a frustrated interior designer because he got very into the selection of a lot of the finishes. Um the seats in the auditorium. He was he helped select the kind of furniture. There is bronze. Uh the entire building is um all of our doors, our bronze doors and all of the edging on the staircases and elsewhere are edged in bronze. Again, a selection that he made. So, it's really a an an investment in a rich, beautiful public space that's quite quite unlike a lot of other public buildings.

[00:54:11]Um, as the center is 19 acres, will there be any sort of on-site transportation to help seniors get around like golf carts?

[00:54:21]>> We will have golf carts. Good question.

[00:54:23]We will have golf carts and we also learned during soft opening that we have to invest in more wheelchairs. We have a we have a fleet of wheelchairs. We think we need more. So, these are the things you learn during soft opening. Um, but yes, yes, yes, we will have those.

[00:54:35]Um, will the entire Obama family and some former presidents attend the grand opening?

[00:54:42]>> Yes, they will. And I again, I'll repeat, you know, we are really excited about it. It'll be a ceremony not like others because I don't think there'll be a lot of speeches, but there'll be a lot of other fun things going on. And please join us on the live stream next next Thursday at 11:00 a.m. I I will tell you all that it's quite astonishing for me as somebody who's been working on this, you know, since like 2015 to be able to say next Thursday as our opening.

[00:55:06]>> Oh, I guess you could share that with us. Uh so when I send out the recording of this, I will also share the link to the live streaming for the opening. That would be great.

[00:55:16]>> And I think you can just find it on obama.org, but we can't have >> Oh, okay. I will find it then.

[00:55:22]Um, somebody has already been outside of the area and they're very excited. Um, as well, will the infamous tenuit be among the artifacts on display?

[00:55:37]>> I'm laughing because that question has come up a lot as the press have been in to cover it. Um, and as it turns out, the president gave away the tan suit.

[00:55:47]And, you know, when he was cleaning out his closet, um, you know, it didn't go to Keny because he he he he purchased it. He purchased it himself. You know, it wasn't like a a dress, you know, one of her ball gowns that was was gifted to the United States. He bought it himself and so he gave it away, cleaning it out of his closet.

[00:56:05]And somebody says that they have uh Obama campaign artifi artifacts like t-shirts, buttons, bumper stickers in very good shape. Could you use them?

[00:56:16]>> We might. We might. I think after we get through grand opening, you know, our curatorial staff will start, you know, we that we did a little bit of that, you know, but at the very beginning where we had meetings and we, you know, solicited contributions from folks of the campaign memorability to have and those many of those went into the exhibits you will see. So um our exhibit about um the campaign has a whole you know wall covered in buttons from different places. It has another wall display case that has memorabilia from various campaign offices. It has a bathing suit set that somebody made that says you know um Obama Biden. It has a bejeweled you know tennis shoe um in that. Um and so you know these are all as as Kenry knows you know we will have to circulate out you know over time you know to preserve them and so would welcome that I think there's a place on the website to tell folks that but if not I can you know sort of find out more and and follow up but we it's something as after we get past this opening and we start looking to the next exhibits um we will we will be asking folks I I I want to also just acknowledge um and thank Keny for her partnership throughout all of this. Um, we obviously couldn't put the displays on without being able to access and to borrow, you know, as other museums do, borrow the art, the Obama artifacts from the National Archives.

[00:57:34]So, we do have a display of Mrs. Obama's dresses, for example. We have some displays of the president's handwritten speech, you know, his notes on his speech, key speeches. Um, we have sort of a a a a um I think one of the signature pages on the the Affordable Care Act. Um and um you know those really came be came about because of the partnership we have in the National Archives who've worked with us you know on helping to curate those have and been you know worked with us every step as they've been installed you know so that we make sure that we're preserving them carefully and we will continue that partnership as we circulate out um the dresses for a new round and other artifacts of as the years go by. Can I say real I can I add really quickly um it is it has been an absolute honor to be able to partner and to be able to make sure that these artifacts and items see the light of day and also get to people get to engage with them. But I wanted to also say both for the Obama Foundation as well as for the Obama Library with the government is that we both take donations of various types.

[00:58:40]But I would urge you to reach out to one or both of the organizations to make sure that the materials that you are interested in donating are going to somewhere where they can be um utilized.

[00:58:54]um there are lots of buttons and there's lots of campaign materials and it may be that either the foundation or that we have several of them already and in that instance we wouldn't want you know seven or eight of the same thing. So we want to make sure that you don't just send things to the foundation or to the library but to make sure that you reach out to the curatorial staff on either either effort either ends.

[00:59:22]>> Yeah. Uh there was another question for you Camvi. Will the digitized documents be accessible from the center as well?

[00:59:33]>> We're building our relationship with the foundation and as we've said several times, this is a new thing that we're doing and we're working on different ways to make sure that we get maximum access to the public with these records.

[00:59:47]And so right now you can access the records that are available right where you are um on your phone on your tablet on your computer um through our website and we are working on ways to make it more interactive and more engaging and also working on ways with the foundation to make sure that we can answer questions in real time and make sure that we're engaged. But we also have um Ask a Archavist programming, virtual programming, and you can email us um um through through um NAR. So, we'll see. We'll see. We're working on trying to figure out how we make things work, but right now, you can access the materials right where you are, >> from anywhere. Yes.

[01:00:30]>> Okay. Regarding youth programs, uh will there be online classes available? My family would love to participate but we leave we live very far away.

[01:00:41]>> Well um in the future sort of one of our ambitions obviously the president very much wants a lot of the material that's in the museum available online for that very reason so that the reach can be just folks that can physically get themselves to Chicago. Um, I will say that the audio guides on the Bloomberg Connects when we that goes live the app, you know, I could sit here right now and access the material from the New York Metropolitan Museum. So, our audio guides will be available, you know, on on on Bloomberg Connects virtually. And over time, we will be putting more and more content available, you know, on uh we'll have both content that's generally available. We're going to be doing some exclusive content for folks who are members. Um and um we'll continue sort of through the programming that we're putting together be able to stream you know much of our material we hope.

[01:01:31]>> Okay. Somebody is asking how will the revenue that the center generates be used.

[01:01:37]>> It'll be used to keep the center going.

[01:01:39][laughter] So the you know with 19 acres and um you know forge employees we do not take any government money. Um, so other than sitting on Chicago Park District land, there is no other government funding that goes into funding the operations of the Obama Foundation. Um, so for both the programs that we operate globally and on campus and you know the man, you know, uh, operating costs of managing the 19 acres, that's that's where sort of the revenue goes from our ticketing. The ticketing and the rental revenue and the parking actually only funds a fraction of our overall cost. So we are, you know, in active fundraising and um we'll announce an endowment campaign in the coming months.

[01:02:20]>> Um what is the website for the foundation? Somebody's asking.

[01:02:25]>> Obama.org. So obama.org. Please join us there.

[01:02:30]>> Yes. Um will there be his first Blackberry?

[01:02:36]>> I think so. We have a Blackberry, right?

[01:02:39]Can we? I think we b we borrowed that.

[01:02:41]Yeah. I think the Blackberry is actually in the replica of the oval. So we have a full scale um oval office replica and um inside if you pull open the desk drawer if when you come to visit us and we allow anybody to come in and take a photo sitting behind the resolute desk you can open the desk drawer and within encased in the desk drawer you will see um a replica of the letter that President Bush left for President Obama you know on inauguration day um January 2009 and um and a Blackberry. [laughter] So, >> okay. Uh, do you have any more time?

[01:03:20]We've taken a lot of your time. There are still dozens of >> questions.

[01:03:25]>> A couple more questions. So, are both the foundation and the center 501c3 organizations?

[01:03:33]>> Yes. For for us, the Obama Foundation, the center is just a part of the foundation. So, we have one 501c3 organization, which is the Obama Foundation.

[01:03:43]>> Okay. And now we have a lot of questions about the pens. Uh for those that were gifted a pen at the signing where they also presented the uh the pen case.

[01:03:54]>> Yes, because I actually have a couple of those. So yes, I have I have the pen from the signing of the executive order creating the Council of Women and Girls, which is something I put together.

[01:04:03]>> And do they have any special inscriptions on them?

[01:04:08]>> It's his signature. So this is his signature is on the pens and his signature and the presidential seal are on the case.

[01:04:16]>> Okay. Somebody is asking about uh security. How is security?

[01:04:21]>> So we have very robust security team. Um we are very fortunate that our head of security um is the former first deputy um uh of the Chicago Police Department and is the guy who put together all the security for the NATO summit when it was held when we were in the um presidency.

[01:04:38]So, Bill Bradley is wellversed in the security needs and we have a great relationship with the Chicago Police Department. Um, our head of operations, the head of the OPC is the former chief operating officer for the city of Chicago. And so, um, we have, you know, obviously a robust set of cameras throughout. We also have, um, heat imaging so that we can tell when there's, um, you know, a a growing congregation of folks that we may need to have folks go over. I will say one of the things we got out of soft opening the overwhelming comment was about our staff. We've actually hired all of our our public facing staff. So whether it's our cure uh custodial staff or our wayfinding staff um security staff for the hours in which we are are open and engaging with the public. We have directly hired that staff. We will use contracted staff in the off hours because we wanted to make sure we trained our staff um during for those who would interact with the public um to be folks who would engage the public positively and be representatives of the Obamas and the foundation with the values that we hold. And I'm really delighted to hear that, you know, these are our newest staff. They were all just hired in April. You know, we got just great reviews from them during soft opening. They are an incredibly enthusiastic and welcoming group. So, including our security staff who are well trained in deescalation and other ways to do security safely.

[01:05:59]>> Well, that is good to hear. Um, somebody is asking about whether they need need tickets to visit the center if they're just taking a uh if they're not taking a tour, but just visit the first floor in the grounds.

[01:06:12]>> Absolutely, you do not need a ticket.

[01:06:14]You can come, you can go to the public library, you can go to the playground, you can experience the water walkway, take a picnic on the great lawn. Uh we've got picnic tables and grills. We got those, too. Um uh take a stroll through the fruit and vegetable garden.

[01:06:28]Um absolutely. The only time you need a ticket is to go into the four floors of the museum itself.

[01:06:35]>> Okay.

[01:06:36]And how would organizations learn more about programming and potential partnership opportunities?

[01:06:44]>> Oh, I love that question because and you know I oversee all of the programs. So we you know we we would love to get input from folks. Um so on our website again that's really the place where you can find anything. Um we actually have a page called ways to engage. um where we actually invite folks to fill out a form. You know, if there if you've got a program, if you've got a talent, um if there's something else that you would like, you know, to partner on or suggest, um please go to the website obama.org. You can find the ways to engage page, fill out your information and my team, we are, you know, regularly going through that as we start to plan out, you know, the rest of our programming for this year and into the next year. Um you know, looking for for partners and ideas is something we're really open. We're we know we are fortunate to be in Chicago where there is just a wealth of organizations and cultural institutions and educational institutions that have explored a lot of the issues that we care about and are already touching a lot of the um citizens that we want to reach um with existing programming and we want to actually partner with those. We don't want to reinvent you know any really good working wheels that are out there.

[01:07:55]>> Yeah. Uh, and I'll just do one last question because there are dozens left.

[01:07:59]We're not going to be able to cover all of them. Um, mo most of them can be answered if they just uh do a real research on the website. Um, the one last question is, is the Junth live stream uh will it be available at a later date? Why not? Will it be recorded just like this one?

[01:08:19]>> It will be. And to be clear, the live stream is on June 18th. So >> 18th, I meant. Yes. So, the ceremony is June 18th, a week from today at 11:00 a.m. Chicago time. And then we will it will we will we will have it, you know, um uh available for for later viewing.

[01:08:35]And June 19th on Junth is when we are fully open and publicly open and you don't need a ticket to come.

[01:08:41]>> Yes. And can the top floor be visited?

[01:08:46]>> Yes. So, the top floor can be visited without a ticket. We're going to set up some timed ways of getting up there. So because it we've learned our elevators get can get a little busy.

[01:08:55]>> Um so we may um institute a a registration for a time ticket to be able to go to the eighth floor, but the eighth floor can be seen either as part of your ticketed experience or as a member of the public that has not bought a ticket to come up to the eighth floor.

[01:09:10]>> Well, this is exciting for sure. We're going to pack probably two buses and visit you in October. So, and a lot of other people a lot of mentioning of Yes, we will be there. Uh, well, I just want to thank you so much for taking the time today, Keny and Tina. I know you're super busy with the grand opening, but thank you for stopping by and uh sharing all of this with us. Thank you so so much.

[01:09:37]>> Also, thank you.

[01:09:38]>> Yeah, thank you. Um, a huge thank you for all all our viewers today who were I don't know 1500 people. Uh, without your support, none of this would be possible.

[01:09:48]Thank you for choosing to spend time with us and please go and visit the Obama Presidential Library and Center and um, see you soon for more library programming. Have a good evening and stay dry.