CHICAGO >> Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has said he wants the city to submit a unified bid for President Barack Obama’s presidential library.

“It is important for the city to have the president’s library in his hometown, and we will be very competitive in our proposal, and we have put a lot of thought into it,” Emanuel, who is Obama’s former chief of staff, told the Chicago Sun-Times.

The University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago State University and the University of Chicago have all expressed interest in being home to the library. So has a group from Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood that’s promoting a lakefront site at a now-closed hospital.

The University of Hawaii is vying for the site and the newspaper reports Columbia University in New York is also interested.

Emanuel said he doesn’t expect Chicago will win the library “based on some sentiment toward the city.” The mayor said he will remind Obama of his Chicago roots, but he expects Chicago and its university systems to be competitive in the city’s proposal.