Billy Graham Library Fact Sheet

Overview
The Billy Graham Library honors and depicts the life of evangelist Billy Graham. The purpose of the Library is to serve as an extension of the evangelistic ministry of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) and continue the legacy it has had for 60 years of delivering the simple Gospel message around the world. The Library will allow visitors to walk through “One Man’s Journey”—that of Billy Graham. The Library is 40,000 square feet and the entrance is designed to resemble a barn, harkening back to Graham’s childhood on the family dairy farm in Charlotte, N.C. It will house six exhibits, four galleries, and two theaters covering the span of Graham’s lifetime work reaching more than 210 million people on six continents.

Exhibits on the self-guided 90-minute tour utilize multimedia displays, including rare film footage and more than 350 photographs, to offer a look at Billy Graham’s historic evangelistic events, his use of radio, television, and films to reach out to millions of people around the world, meetings with presidents and other world leaders, and a fascinating glimpse into his personal life. Visitors can also see an exhibit on the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association—reflecting the global ongoing work and expansion of the ministry. The innovative, family-friendly Billy Graham Library also includes a restaurant, an archive for Mr. Graham’s personal papers, and a tour of the Graham Family Homeplace, where Mr. Graham lived for several years during his youth.


Location

• 1 Billy Graham Parkway, Charlotte, N.C. 28201
• Just 4 miles from the farm where Billy Graham grew up

        

Admission

• Opened to the public June 5, 2007
  
• Free to the public
• Hours of Operation:
• Monday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
• Closed Sunday
  
• 250 parking spaces

        

Exhibits

• Visitors will experience exhibits, multimedia displays, and films in the midst of a recreated dairy farm environment reminiscent of the Graham Dairy Farm of the 1920s.
• The Library includes six exhibits, four galleries, and two theaters, which visitors can explore during a self-guided 90-minute tour.
  Exhibits include:
• An exhibit featuring the broadcasting media Graham innovatively used throughout his six decades of ministry
• A room dedicated to Ruth Bell Graham, daughter of missionaries to China and Billy Graham’s wife and ministry partner
• A reproduction of a portion of the Berlin Wall is included in one Library feature to highlight Graham’s spiritual impact in once communist-controlled countries in Eastern Europe

              

Features

• The Billy Graham Library is 40,000 square feet.
• The Library is located on 63 acres of land that includes the Graham Family Homeplace and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association international headquarters.
• One of the most striking features of the Library is the large glass cross over the entrance, measuring 24 feet wide and 40 feet high.
• A scavenger hunt is available to kids on the self-guided tour and it begins with an animatronic cow that tells of Billy Graham as a young boy.
• The Billy Graham Library will include a bookstore, Ruth’s Attic, and The Graham Bros. Dairy Bar—a café that offers sandwiches, cookies, ice cream, cold milk, and a variety of soft drinks.
• A 60-foot grain silo frames the right side of the Library entrance, adding to the barn-styled building front.
• A prayer garden is located on the Library grounds containing stone from Montreat, N.C., where the Grahams have called home for 50 plus years.
• The Billy Graham Library will be the repository for Billy Graham’s personal papers, including his correspondence, ministry records, and sermon manuscripts.