Barack and Michelle Obama will be focusing on building a “living working center for citizenship” after leaving the White House, the couple announced Friday.
The announcement was made via President Obama’s @BarackObama Twitter account, as the president hands over his older account @POTUS to the incoming president.
“More than a library or museum, it will be a living center for citizenship,” Obama said in a video. “That’s why we want to hear from you. Tell us what you want this project to be and tell us what’s on your mind.”
The building, which will serve as his presidential library, will be located on the South Side of Chicago, where Obama began the community organizing that set him on the path to the White House.
Michelle added, “Send us your hopes, your ideas about what we can achieve together. Tell us about the young leaders and companies and organizations that inspire you.”
The Obama’s also said that they’re planning on taking some time off.
“First we’re going to take a little break,” Michelle Obama said. “We’re finally going to get some sleep and take some time to be with our family and just be still a little bit.”
The soon-to-be former president then thanked the American people, promising to see “all of you soon.”
The location of Obama’s presidential library was announced in July and will be built in Chicago’s Jackson Park, the site of the 1893 World’s Fair. It will be the first presidential center located in the heart of an urban community, according to Obama Foundation chair Mary Nesbitt.
Presidential libraries are archives and museums which house all the documents and artifacts of each president and his administration. Established by the Presidential Libraries Act in 1955, these aren’t traditional libraries, but rather monuments to the president’s legacy.
There are 13 presidential libraries around the country, with two in Southern California: the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley and the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda.
Watch the video above.