Gov. Nathan Deal and Secretary of State Brian Kemp announced today that the state will restore $125,000 to Kemp’s budget to keep the Georgia State Archives open to Georgians for the remainder of the budget year.
“Georgia’s Archives are a showcase of our state’s rich history and a source of
great pride,” said Deal. “I worked quickly with my budget office and Secretary
Kemp to ensure that Georgians can continue to come to Morrow to study and
view the important artifacts kept there. I appreciate Secretary Kemp’s
commitment to work with me to find a solution.”
The extra funding provides for Georgia State Archives to be open to the public
through June 30 of next year.
On July 1, the Georgia Archives will be
transferred to University System of Georgia, pending approval of the move by
the General Assembly.
This transfer will include appropriations required for
operation and assets of the Georgia Archives. Additional staff will be provided
by USG at that time.
Deal and Kemp intend to find efficiencies by consolidating the Archives under the University System of Georgia, just as the state has sought to do with the library system.
“From the beginning of this budget process, I have stated that it was my hope
that current access to the Archives could be maintained,” Kemp said. “I greatly
appreciate Governor Deal’s leadership and recognize the difficult decisions that had to be made in order to identify this funding. He has proposed a plan that supports Archives not just this year, but for years to come.”
Deal’s budgetary commitment allows Georgia State Archives to maintain its
current access hours.
GeorgiaArchivesMatters 
A library system and an archives are two different animals. I’ve seen a lot of comments that this is wonderful news and that we have won a major victory. I cannot share that opinion. A library system has a more generalized cataloging system that is somewhat system-wide and more self-explanatory. If you have used your local library’s on-line catalog, you know this. On the other hand, databases and cataloging are specific for each archive collections and are unique. Employees provided by the University System of Georgia are not going to know the Georgia Archives records. I’m glad that at least two more staff members will be retained, but, at this point, any loss of staff will affect access to records. Knowledge has to be passed on from veteran employees to new hires, and it takes years to learn records of an archives. Also, the Unversity System of Georgia also makes budget cuts. Just look at UGA. If the Archives is in the line of fire two years from now under the University System, who do we pressure then with letters and petitions? The future of the Georgia Archives is still very uncertain.