WASHINGTON, D.C. — Momentous policy calls lurk ahead for President Bush — Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Social Security. But the other big-time decision of his second term — where to put his library — is all but settled.

The White House will invite proposals this spring from several Texas cities eager to snag the plum. But Bush insiders say the library will be in Dallas, on or near the campus of Southern Methodist University.

"The decision hasn't been officially made yet," one source said, "but anyone who understands George and Laura can see where it's going."

A second source said flatly: "It's going to be in Dallas."

A White House official suggested caution: "We're nowhere near any announcements or decisions or anything."

Another highly placed Bush source said former Commerce Secretary Don Evans, one of Bush's closest friends, has been tapped to head the library advisory committee.

First lady Laura Bush may have inadvertently let the secret slip in January when she told an interviewer she and her husband will divide their post-White House life between their ranch in Central Texas and Dallas.

Other Texas contenders have acknowledged that Dallas is the clear front-runner, but that hasn't stopped them from spending millions crafting their bids.

Those candidates include Baylor University in Waco, Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas A&M University in College Station and Midland, where Bush grew up and began his career in the oil business.

The University of Texas, Austin, which already has the Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Museum, and Arlington, a booming suburb between Dallas and Fort Worth, have entered the competition belatedly.

The new Bush library is expected to cost $200 million in privately raised funds to erect and endow.

"That's not going to be a problem," said a political associate of a president who in the 2004 campaign became the most prolific fund-raiser in U.S. history.