Obama library campaign heats up in Chicago, Honolulu
US President Barack Obama (R) and his daughters Malia (L) and Sasha shop at One More Page Books on Small Business Saturday, which promotes shopping at local small businesses, in the Falls Church neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia, on November 24, 2012.
Obama's presidential library is years away from being built, but the campaigns over where it will be located are in full force.
Both Chicago and Honolulu, the president's home states, are vying for the chance to house the library, with a range of public and private efforts already in place.
"Honolulu is my birthplace," Obama said in an interview with Honolulu TV station KITV last month. "It's the place where I grew up and I've got so many friends and fond memories and it helped to shaped me. I'd like to find a way after my presidency that connection remains, but I live in Chicago now and that's where I grew up professionally."
"It is a tough choice, but it's not one that I've made yet," the president added.
The University of Chicago staff reportedly traveled to Dallas and Washington recently to research the building of the library, according to the Associated Press, and University of Hawaii officials have been to almost all of the 13 official presidential libraries to meet with those responsible for setting them up.
The library will cost an estimated $500 million dollars in fundraised money to build, though the cost may jump higher if Obama decides to divide his archives, museum, policy center, a and foundation between the two cities, Politico pointed out.
Where do you think Obama's library should be? Is the whole thing absurd? Let us know in the comments.
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