NARA Research Room Hours

NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION

36 CFR Part 1253

RIN 3095-AA56

NARA Research Room Hours

AGENCY: National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: NARA is modifying the hours that the Central Research Room,

the Microfilm Research Room, and the Motion Picture, Sound and Video

Research Room in the National Archives Building are open for research

use. This rule affects researchers who use these research rooms in the

evening. NARA is taking this action so that resources will be available

for staffing the research rooms at the new National Archives at College

Park (Archives II) facility.

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 16, 1994.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Ann Hadyka or Nancy Allard on

301-713-6730.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NARA published a notice of proposed

rulemaking on September 22, 1993 (58 FR 49251) proposing that certain

research rooms in the National Archives Building that were open weekday

evenings and on Saturday close at 8 p.m. instead of 10 p.m., Monday

through Friday, and at 5 p.m. instead of 5:15 p.m. on Saturdays. Over

70 comments were received, most opposing the proposed change. Many of

these commenters noted that the reduction in evening hours would

adversely impact local researchers who conduct their research in the

evening after their workday as well as visiting researchers who want to

maximize their research time in as short a period as possible and local

evening classes who visit the National Archives on night-time field

trips. Commenters who use the Microfilm Research Room noted that the

reduced hours would further limit access to microfilm readers, for

which there is frequently a waiting period. Several commenters offered

alternative research room schedules, such as a 9 p.m. weekday closing,

later opening, or closing early on selected days of the week.

Commenters who favored the proposed change were primarily

audiovisual archives researchers. Most of these commenters stated that

extending the research hours for still pictures, cartographic,

electronic and Nixon holdings at the National Archives at College Park

facility (Archives II) would compensate for shortened hours in other

research rooms.

After carefully considering all comments, NARA has developed a

revised research room schedule that would accommodate the concerns of

the commenters and provide adequate staff coverage in the research

rooms. NARA held a public meeting on December 13, 1993, to discuss the

comments received on the proposed rule and to solicit comments on the

revised schedule. Notice of the meeting was provided individually to

each commenter and a notice of the meeting was published in the Federal

Register on November 30, 1993 (58 FR 63133). Twenty-one persons,

including members of the public and NARA staff, attended the meeting.

In addition, NARA received seven letters and three telephone calls from

individuals who could not attend the meeting. These comments were also

considered in the preparation of this final rule.

In this final rule, NARA is modifying research room hours in the

Central Research Room and Microfilm Research Room in the National

Archives Building to be 8:45 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday and Wednesday; 8:45

a.m. to 9 p.m., Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday; and 8:45 a.m. to 4:45

p.m., Saturday. The hours for the Motion Picture, Sound, and Video

Research Room have been deleted from this final rule because that

research room will close for relocation to Archives II before the

effective date of this final rule. (That research room will be covered

by a separate rulemaking on research room hours at Archives II.)

The days for 9 p.m. closing of the research rooms were chosen to

include days when other research facilities, including the Library of

Congress, do not have evening hours. To further minimize the impact of

the changed hours on researchers in the Central and Microfilm Research

Rooms, NARA will not invoke the 36 CFR 1254.12(a) provision that

researchers must return records up to 15 minutes before closing time in

those research rooms.

This rule is not a significant regulatory action for the purposes

of Executive Order 12866 of September 30, 1993 and it has not been

reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget. As required by the

Regulatory Flexibility Act, it is hereby certified that this proposed

rule will not have a significant impact on small entities.

List of Subjects in 36 CFR Part 1253

Archives and records.

For the reasons set forth in the preamble, chapter XII of title 36,

Code of Federal Regulations, is amended as follows:

PART 1253--LOCATION OF RECORDS AND HOURS OF USE

1. The authority citation for part 1253 continues to read as

follows:

Authority: 44 U.S.C. 2104(a).

2. Section 1253.1 is revised to read as follows:

Sec. 1253.1 National Archives Building.

The National Archives Building is located at Seventh Street and

Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20408. Hours: For the Central

Research Room and Microfilm Research Room, 8:45 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday

and Wednesday; 8:45 a.m. to 9 p.m., Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday; 8:45

a.m. to 4:45 p.m. on Saturday. For other research rooms, 8:45 a.m. to 5

p.m., Monday through Friday.

Dated: February 7, 1994.

Trudy Huskamp Peterson,

Acting Archivist of the United States.

[FR Doc. 94-3362 Filed 2-11-94; 8:45 am]

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