Atlanta — June 20, 2013

Georgia’s Archives will have a new home as of July 1, with the official transfer of the agency from the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office to the Board of Regents.

Along with the move comes a budget increase of $300,000 for the new fiscal year that will be used to expand operations and improve public access to the State Archives. The additional funds will be used to hire three professionals and increase part-time staff hours.

“I am excited about the opportunity to grow the programs of the Archives and appreciate the support from the Governor, Legislature, Board of Regents, Secretary of State, members of the Coalition and the many concerned citizens of Georgia who pushed to make this possible,” said Christopher Davidson, director of the Georgia Archives.

As a result of the increased staffing, the Archives will open to the public two additional days a week, Wednesday and Thursday, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., beginning July 31.

The additional staff will also allow for increased conservation and processing activities of the Archives collections.

Archives staff has begun discussing partnership opportunities to engage USG students and faculty in its work. As part of the USG, the Archives will be able to tap the enormous range of faculty, staff and student talent to assist with its mission.

“Individuals at the University System who are working to make our transfer as smooth as possible have been wonderful to work with and have been very responsive to our needs,” Davidson said.

The Archives’ popular “Lunch and Learn” lecture series, which is presented the second Friday of each month from noon until 1:00 p.m. in the Archives, will continue, Davidson said.

“Thus far, this has been a smooth transition for both the State Archives and the University System,” said USG Executive Vice Chancellor Steve Wrigley. “We are excited about the future and the potential for collaboration and believe the Archives is headed in a good direction.”

The Georgia Archives was established in 1918 and moved to its current home in Morrow in 2003 and holds more than 80,000 cubic feet of records.

The mission of the Georgia Archives is to identify, collect, manage, preserve, publicize, and provide access to records and information of Georgia and its people and assist state and local government agencies with records management.

The Archives is open for research Friday through Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Wednesday-Saturday beginning July 31). Original documents are retrieved from 8:30 to 4:00 p.m., and may be viewed in the Original Document Reading Room until 4:45 p.m.

The Georgia Archives website is: <www.GeorgiaArchives.org>

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