I saw some readers commenting about their subscriptions to commercial newspapers and wanted to share that the Kent Free Library subscribes to America’s News, a database that provides digital access to past and current issues of over 3,500 American newspapers. It contains more than 100 Ohio newspapers, including the Record-Courier (2017 – current) and the Akron Beacon Journal (1984 – current).
The service is on the research page of our website — all readers need is a Kent Free Library library card to access all these newspapers for free! Reed Memorial Library in Ravenna provides access to the Record-Courier.
Once logged in, readers can search the entire database by keyword, such as a name, event, or topic, which is great if they don’t know the exact date. They can also use the A-Z Source List to browse a specific paper. When they click on the name, they’ll see a calendar and can choose a date (including the current day) and see the full-color image of the entire paper.
And once they find an interesting photo or article, they can use built in tools to “clip” it, and then save or print it — this is better for clipping files than cutting out articles, because they can be printed on acid free paper. Readers can also email articles to themselves or friends directly from the database.
I’m really hoping that the resource gets a LOT of use, so we can justify continuing to subscribe!
Kristen Pool, Kent Free Library
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