Passing this on. It's on topic and worth promoting. ...and yes, I did sign the petition. Kay - thanks for bringing this up. Jim -----Original Message----- From: Kay Speaks [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, September 05, 2006 4:48 PM To: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: [L-AGS] L-AGS: Subject: Petition - NARA Research Room Hours of Access (deadlineSeptember 8) Hello, Researching at Washington DC NARA is a very special privilege. The new hours of accessibility limits, or eliminates, the use of NARA by many genealogists who research after they get off work or on weekends. Please take the time to respond as requested below. Your silence is a response indicating agreement to these new limited hours of operation! We need your voice to be heard! Deadline for responses is September 8. When I planned my first trip to the National Archives in Washington DC last year, I did so knowing I could use Saturday and weekday evenings to extend my research time at NARA. It allowed me to take a small bit of time to enjoy the rest of the DC area and the Cherry Blossom Festival. I thought, so this is what my tax dollars helps to provide -- the ability for people all over the world, especially Americans, the freedom to enjoy our national monuments, learn of our history and research our ancestors -- and its all free! Your vote really does count. Help keep access to NARA open to the working class who research in the evenings and weekends. Kay Speaks L-AGS Study Group -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following message was distributed to those attending last week's Federation of Genealogical Societies in Boston. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Conference Attendee: We were honored to have Dr. Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States attend the FGS/NEHGS 2006 Conference in Boston and to address us in the Opening Session on Thursday, August 31, 2006. Following his remarks, he was presented with a letter by the Chair of the Records Preservation and Access Committee (RPAC) addressing concerns about the proposed changes in the hours of operation for the Research Rooms at the National Archives. It has come to our attention that very few of our constituencies are making their voices heard on this issue. This lack of response sends a loud signal to the Archives that this is not a serious issue and that closing the Archives on evenings and Saturdays is irrelevant. The RPAC has recommended the following suggestions for the Archives to consider: 1) To accommodate the needs of those who need access on Saturdays, we propose that you close one other day per week. This would be at your discretion. Other archives often close Sunday and Monday. 2) Users who need evening hour access could be accommodated by opening the archives later in the day, again at your discretion. If you agree with the recommendations stated above, we are asking your support by immediately going on-line and adding your "signature" to our petition to substitute the hours of access and still help the archives to meet their need to consolidate their hours of operation. Before 8 September 2006, please go to: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/FGS2006/petition.html (Case sensitive) If you would like to send your own personal letter, send it prior to 8 September 2006 and address it to: Regulations Comments Desk (NPOL) Room 4100, Policy and Planning Staff National Archives and Records Administration 8601 Adelphi Road College Park, MD 20740-6001 -- James R. Smith Author: San Francisco's Lost Landmarks ISBN: 1884995446 www.HistorySmith.com <http://www.historysmith.com/>