As you read below you may notice that the Obama library is going to cost twice as much as the George W. Bush library.

Anyone surprised?

Ella Vincent of State Column reported.

Four universities in the running for Obama presidential library

Four universities are on the short list for the President Obama’s library. The future presidential library may be in New York or his home states of Hawaii and Illinois.

All the colleges are in cities that have some connection to Obama. The University of Hawaii is in Obama’s childhood home of Hawaii. New York’s Columbia Univerity is where he completed his undergraduate degree. The University of Illinois at Chicago is in the city where he started his political career. The University of Chicago is where Obama was a constitutional law professor.

“These four potential partners have come the farthest in meeting our criteria and have each demonstrated a strong vision for the future Obama Presidential Library,” Marty Nesbitt, chairman of the board on the Barack Obama Foundation.

“We look forward to working with each institution to further refine their proposals over the coming months, and to presenting our recommendations to the president and first lady early next year, ” Nesbitt added.

The four universities have until the end of the year to submit their ideas and proposals for the potential libraries. The foundation’s board will then make their recommendations to the president and first lady, Michelle Obama. The Obamas will make the final decision about where the library will be located.

The foundation is raising private funds for the library. Presidential libraries can cost hundreds of millions of dollars. The George W. Bush Presidential Library in Dallas cost around $250 million. The Obama Library could cost as much as $500 million.