The Research Room at the George W. Bush Presidential Library is open to the public by appointment only. Appointments must be scheduled by 3:00pm if wishing to visit the next business day. Schedule a virtual orientation prior to booking travel. We respond to written requests for records at gwbush.library@nara.gov. Please check our website or archives.gov/coronavirus for COVID updates.
The primary mission of every Presidential Library is providing information, and at the heart of that mission are the Library’s archival collections. The Bush Library has an immense set of materials.
First, what differentiates the Bush Library collections from earlier presidential libraries is the size of its electronic records archive. The Library has 80 terabytes of electronic information, including 200 million emails. If these emails were printed, they would total more than 1 billion pages.
Second, the textual collection consists of roughly 70 million pages of paper records. This collection includes not only Bush’s presidential records but also his gubernatorial records, which the Library holds in partnership with the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Third, the audiovisual archive is enormous with about 30,000 audiovisual recordings, 227 cubic feet of photo negatives, and just over 3.8 million photographs. The Bush administration converted to digital photography in 2005, so this presidential library has many more photographs than any of its predecessors.
This immense volume of materials provides a wonderful resource for research, but also poses a challenge for the National Archives. For example, due to the volume of electronic records, when researchers were first permitted to make Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to view Bush presidential records in January 2014, more records were requested within the first week than have been processed at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in 25 years.
Find more information about how to Plan a Research Visit. Browse Finding Aids, the archived White House website, and Topic Guides. Learn how to submit a FOIA request.
Planning a research visit to the Library? Find useful research information such as operating hours, directions, parking, helpful tips, copy fees, and how to contact the Library to schedule a research visit.
Interested in specific topics? Topic guides combine resources from the Archives' digital records, museum collection, audiovisual collection, archived White House Website, and more.
Need a little help? We have an array of resources. Learn more about the types of materials available to the public, how to access them, and more.
