SIMI VALLEY : Reagan Library Plans Open House Sunday

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Sunday will be hosting its second annual open house, a special event during which visitors are allowed to tour sections of the library that are usually off limits.

The event attracted more than 1,000 visitors last year, and library spokeswoman Stefanie Salata said the special day is intended to offer the public a better look at the working purpose of a presidential library.

“This is really fun for us because we get to show what we do here and why these libraries exist,” Salata said. “It’s important for us to be able to show how these historical materials are preserved.”

During the open house, which runs from noon to 5 p.m., visitors can see the research room and the library’s storehouse of 47 million pages of presidential records, 1.5 million photographs, 30,000 video and audio tapes and 75,000 artifacts from the Reagan presidency.

Visitors will also get a peek at how the material is preserved in temperature and humidity-controlled environments.

General admission is $4, $2 for seniors 62 and over. Children 15 and under are admitted free.

On Thursday, in a separate celebratory event, the library will offer free admission to its museum and serve free refreshments in the library’s main lobby. The library will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday.