Representatives from the Lincoln Library Foundation announced a privately-funded, quarter-million dollar acquisition of a new digital library. According to a news release, it will allow Illinois residents access to the Springfield State Journal-Register and its predecessors (Illinois State Journal and Illinois State Register) through a searchable online database.
Lincoln Library, the public library of Springfield, IL, currently has access to the State Journal-Register editions from 1985 forward. The new agreement signed with NewsBank will provide the Library with online access to the historical archives from 1831 through 1950 that totals nearly 675,000 searchable pages. Records from 1831 to 1922 are already digitized and the final three decades will become available during the next year.