Resources

Explore recipes and food culture from 174 countries. Additional features include food glossaries, food history timelines, and ingredient searches.

Focused on African-American and Black literature from around the world, this site has book reviews and bestseller lists, author profiles, and information about upcoming books and events.

For young learners (ages 2-7+), this comprehensive online educational resource has more than 4,000 interactive books, educational games, puzzles, and other learning activities. (In library use only)

Explore and stay informed on local, national and international topics, people and events in areas such as business, health, education, jobs and careers, political and social issues and more. Features a wide variety of credible, vetted news sources from around the world to around the corner. Available remotely 24/7 on any device.

A site devoted to researching African American genealogy, AfriGeneas also serves as a community with its chats and message boards that include thousands of messages from people looking to find and share genealogical information.

Hundreds of periodicals published between 1740 and 1940, including labor publications, women and children’s magazines, and scientific, professional, and literary journals.

Search U.S. Census records from 1790-1930; Evanston city directories from 1890-93; immigration records; birth, marriage, and death records; and old telephone directories from around the country. Only available in the library.

Evanston Public Library partners with Illinois Legal Aid Online (ILAO) as a Legal Self-Help Center. Now, patrons can make a free, online appointment with our legal self-help navigator! Learn about the law, your legal rights, and how to go to court.  Our trained ILAO Navigator will help you:

• Search online for answers to your legal questions,
• Refer you to free and low cost legal providers, and
• Show you how to find and prepare court forms

Appointments are available on Mondays and Thursdays from 2-4 PM for 30 minutes.  Contact the Reference Desk at 847-448-8630 to book an appointment.

AtoZdatabases is the premier Reference, Research, Marketing, Mailing Lists/Sales Leads,  and Job-Search Database. The database is ideal for sales leads, mailing lists, market research, employment  opportunities, finding friends, relatives and more.  

The experience and impact of African Americans as recorded by the news media.

Scholastic BookFlix pairs video storybooks with real-world information to help new readers build a love of reading and learning. Also includes interactive games to help build vocabulary and improve literacy.

View a tutorial on YouTube: English | Spanish

Almost three million images from top international collection, rights-cleared for educational use.

Charity Navigator helps charitable givers make intelligent giving decisions by providing information on over thirty-four hundred charities and by evaluating the financial health of each . Includes article and blog on wise and effective charitable giving.

Explore and stay informed on Chicago area topics, people and events in areas such as business, health, education, jobs and careers, political and social issues and more.

Find unbiased ratings, reviews, and advice on local service providers, such as Auto Services, Pet Care, Healthcare Providers, and Home Care.

This newspaper chronicles events and stories about and relevant to Chicago and Evanston’s Black communities. Also included are obituaries, photos, and advertisements. 1989 to the present.

Newspaper issues from 1910 to 1975, chronicling events and stories about and relevant to Chicago and Evanston’s Black communities. Also included are obituaries, photos, and advertisements.

Watch a YouTube tutorial: English | Spanish

Explore Chicago history through local news, events and people with the Chicago Sun-Times Collection. Search current and archived issues with full-color newspaper pages, full-text articles and content only published online. Available remotely 24/7 on any device.

Read the full text (minus photos and illustrations) of today’s Chicago Tribune, or browse issues back to 1980.

Chicago Tribune Historical Archives are also available.

Select Chicago Daily Tribune in the “Publications” drop-down box to search the Tribune from the 1849-1996. Includes display ads, classified ads, obituaries, and more.

Watch a YouTube tutorial: English | Spanish

Comprehensive, dynamic auto repair support.

In addition to thousands of ratings of consumer products, you can find expert reviews and buying advice; product comparisons and video clips, and even user reviews. New and used car ratings and recommendations are also here.

View a tutorial on YouTube: English | Spanish

Get expert product reviews free from Consumer Reports, PC Magazine, and dozens of other sources. Product categories include electronics, sports, office, kitchen, health and beauty, cars, and baby products.

Find issues from Sep 9, 1996 – present of this weekly business newspaper for Chicago.

Explore suburban area history through local news, events and people with the Daily Herald Collection. Search current and archived issues with full-color newspaper pages, full-text articles and content only published online. Available remotely 24/7 on any device.

Download ebooks and eaudiobooks to your computer, phone (Libby app) or MP3 player.   Formerly MyMediaMall.  A service of Overdrive.

View a tutorial on YouTube: English | Spanish More tutorials: Reading/Listening in a Web Broser

 If you are new to computers, haven’t used them for a while, are a little unsure and uncomfortable, or just need a bit of a refresher, digitallearn.org has the tools to help you tackle technology at your own pace and gain the confidence you need to succeed.

Search and view the full text of eBooks on a variety of subjects.

An up-to-date reference center for all ages–kids, teens, and adults–where you can conduct research, complete homework assignments, and work on special projects. Store your research in your own personal “My Britannica” account. If you need images for your assignments, check out Britannica’s Image Quest.

You can also search the Spanish-language version of Encyclopedia Britannica created just for students, Britannica Escolar.

Encyclopedia Britannica Spanish Reference Center  le ofrece recursos de referencia en español en dos interfaces exclusivas — cada una con una enciclopedia adaptada a las necesidades del lector: Enciclopedia Moderna para los estudiantes de preparatoria y universidad y Britannica Escolar para estudiantes de primaria y secundaria.

Free online version of the award winning reference work on Chicago’s history and culture.

More than ever, our community is in need. If you or anyone you know is need of resources related to food, shelter, health care, employment, financial assistance, mental health support, and more, Evanston Care Network provides a one-stop portal for getting help from verified providers. For further assistance using the Evanston Care Network, call the Library at 847-448-8630 or call 311.

Evanston City Directories are located in the Evanstoniana Room in the Reference Department, 3rd floor. These directories list names of residents alphabetically with occupation and names of family members living at the address. Businesses are listed alphabetically and by type of business. Most have reverse listings by street name and number.

• The Evanston Directory 1880-1905 (missing 1885, 1887 and 1889)
• Bumstead’s Evanston City and North Shore Directory 1909-1921
• Polk’s Evanston City and North Shore Directory 1922-1939 (odd years only), 1948, 1962, 1963 (last year printed)
• Directories also available online at the Internet Archive

This newspaper collection was digitized from Evanston History Center’s microfilm collection of Evanston newspapers. It includes: Evanston Index (6/6/1872 to 12/19/1914), Evanston Daily News (4/1/1912 – 12/31/1914), and Evanston News-Index (1/1/1915 – 12/30-1922).

Search full-text articles on local news, issues, events, people and more from current and archived issues for the Evanston Review. Also available remotely 24/7 on any device.

The Evanston Women’s History Project research database contains information about women and women’s organizations that the project has researched. It provides basic biographical and historical information, details about the significance of many women and women’s organizations, some information about sites where they lived and worked, and resources for researchers.

Explore More Illinois is a free service provided by the library that provides instant online access to free and discounted tickets to museums, science centers, sporting events, zoos, park districts, theaters, and other fun and local cultural venues.

The largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world. From the Church of Latter Day Saints Family history Library.

Gateway to several periodical databases and library catalogs, including OCLC’s WorldCat catalog of library holdings nationwide.

Read some of your favorite magazines on Flipster. Access via a web browser or download the Flipster app to your Android, iPhone or iPad, or Kindle Fire. There is no limit to the number of magazines you can borrow at a time.

Foundation Directory Online and Foundation Grants to Individuals Online are databases of grant information produced by the Foundation Center. They are available for unlimited use only within the Main library at every Internet workstation and over the WiFi network on a user’s own laptop or tablet.

Evanston Public Library cardholders may register using an email address and password for one 24-hour Day Pass per month. Once you have logged in, you will have 24 hours of remote access. Once the 24-hour period has expired, you will not be able to use the database remotely for 30 days. This does not affect access within the library and only applies to those accessing Foundation Directory Online from home. For more information about using the FDO Essential Day Pass, use this step-by-step guide. If you have further questions, contact the Reference Department at 847-448-8630.
Remote access link:  https://fconline.foundationcenter.org/auth/encoded-login/?fin=A000&hash=e757b2be7e12d363f6eed6ad125a1ab6&username=FIN1559

Foundation Directory Online and Foundation Grants to Individuals Online are databases of grant information produced by the Foundation Center. They are available for use only within the Main library at every Internet and Reference workstation, and over the WiFi network on a user’s own laptop or tablet.

This database provides over 25,000 encyclopedic entries covering a variety of subject areas.

Gale Business: DemographicsNow connects users with a wealth of highly detailed demographic data on more than 24 million U.S. businesses and 206 million consumers

Gale Business: Entrepreneurship is a comprehensive database that covers all aspects of starting and operating a business.

Gale Business: Plan Builder is a step-by-step online planning tool for starting, managing and optimizing a business or nonprofit.

Instructor led, highly interactive free courses that you can take entirely online. Courses run for six weeks and new sessions begin every month. Topics include: Accounting and Finance, Business, Healthcare and Medical, Law and Legal, Technology, and more.

Search across multiple directories simultaneously. Titles include Gale Directory of Early Stage Investment, Gale Directory of Publications and Broadcast Media, and Encyclopedia of Governmental Advisory Organizations, and many more.

Provides students with cross-curricular and authoritative content to empower development critical thinking …

Science In Context is a Gale database with hundreds of today’s most significant science topics, showcasing how scientific disciplines relate to real-world issues.

6,000+ Online Video Courses. The top-rated courses offer upskilling in the areas of business, tech, and personal development across 75+ different categories.

More than 3,600 encyclopedias and reference sources. Topics covered: world history and culture, medicine and health, statistics, literature, business and science.

A broad collection of news articles, magazines, books, academic journals, images and video that support general interest research and exploration.

Guidestar includes information about U.S. nonprofits (including foundations) taken primarily from organization tax returns. Some foundations include links to their most recent tax return, where they are required by law to list grant recipients and the amount of funding given.

Includes family histories, genealogical serials, local histories, the U.S. Federal Census, 1790-1930, and primary sources in full images.

In this unusual time, we know that many families are finding themselves reluctantly home schooling. Evanston Public Library is here to serve and support your family beginning with this list of resources to help! Useful Websites: A2Z Homeschooling The Home School Mom UnSchoolers Online Illinois H.O.U.S.E Evanston Home Educators Illinois State Board of Education Homeschooling […]

Choose from hundreds of thousands of movies, full music albums, ebooks, audiobooks and more.  EPL cardholders can checkout 4 items per month from hoopla. New to hoopla? Read our complete, step-by-step guide to getting started with hoopla.  View a tutorial on YouTube: English | Spanish More tutorials: Finding Children’s Materials | Finding ebooks in different lanugages | Reading/Listening in a Web Broser

Evanston Public Library partners with Illinois Legal Aid Online (ILAO) as a Legal Self-Help Center. A legal self-help center is a place where you can learn about the law, your legal rights, and how to go to court.

Searchable full-text of Illinois Issues, Illinois History, Illinois Municipal Review, Illinois Parks and Recreation, and other magazines published by the State of Illinois.

Reference ebooks for middle schoolers.

Stream more than 30,000 of the world’s best films on your smart TV, computer, or mobile device. Three movies per month for EPL cardholders and also unlimited instructional videos from the Great Courses series and Kanopy Kids! content, including Sesame Street.

Watch a YouTube tutorial: English | Spanish

Gale’s Kids InfoBits provides authoritative, curriculum-aligned, age-appropriate digital content that covers a broad range of educational topics.

The Chicago Bar Association, the Chicago Public Library and the Evanston Public Library are offering a free, legal information series to answer your legal questions and provide practical resources and insights into today’s most prevalent legal issues. Each Law at the Library program features a presentation by an experienced attorney followed by a brief question and answer session. 

Practice tests for real estate, elementary-high school skills practice, citizenship exams, and SAT, ACT, LSAT, MCAT, GED, TOEFL, ASVAB, etc.

Gale Legal Forms offers a wide selection of essential state-specific (and multi-state) legal forms that may be customized for the most common legal procedures.

The Evanston Public Library has assembled an extensive list of local free and low-cost legal resources. To find resources for specific legal topics, choose one of the following:

• Child Support and Child Custody
• Divorce
• Estate Planning and Wills
• Immigration and Citizenship
• Servicios Legales Para Hispanohablantes

You can also make a 30-minute Appointment for Legal Information if you need assistance with legal referrals or in finding legal information.

Libby is the app used to access ebook and eaudiobook content from the Digital Library of Illinois.  A service of Overdrive.

Full text of the Gale 19th Century, 20th Century and Contemporary Literary Criticism volumes. Thousands of essays and commentaries on contemporary and classic literature.

Are you planning a trip abroad?  Will you need to learn some key phrases in a new language?  Do you need to brush up in a language you’ve already studied?  Mango Languages can help.  Mango’s conversational approach teaches practical, relevant content focused on four key areas of language learning: vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and culture.  Choose from more than 50 languages and get started today. You can even download the Mango app to your iPhone, iPad or Android mobile device.

Mango also provides several full-length feature films to help you immerse yourself in a new language.  Use your Evanston Public Library card to access Mango from home, or on the go.  Call the Reference Desk for help, or for more information, at 847-448-8630. View a tutorial on YouTube: English | Spanish

Mergent Archives contains the full, digitized text of Moody’s Manuals, dating back to 1909.  Research is simplified through extensive screening options and linked tables of contents for every manual, allowing you to go right to the information that matters to you.  The Archives also contain annual reports dating back to 1925, and stock analyst  reports provided by Ford Equity Research.

Mergent Intellect is a database providing basic company facts on over 20 million North American companies and over 70 million global companies, including company locations; estimated sales and number of employees; industry analysis; Dun & Bradstreet data including D-U-N-S identifier numbers, credit ratings, and corporate “family tree” details; and executive contacts and biographies.

Search stocks, mutual funds, and ETFs, and access Morningstar newsletters: DividendInvestor; FundInvestor; StockInvestor; and ETFInvestor. You will also find a comprehensive suite of portfolio-planning tools and guidance for new and experienced investors alike.

Learn more about your family history and genealogy by searching through more than 4.2 billion records.

Access three articles from academic journals and magazines every two weeks through JSTOR’s Register and Read program.

Download ebooks and eaudiobooks to your computer, phone or MP3 player.  Name changed to Digital Library of Illinois on July 1, 2019.

Read the full text (minus photos and illustrations) of today’s New York Times newspaper, or browse issues back to 1980.

Complete text and images from the New York Times newspaper from 1851-2017.

Watch a YouTube tutorial: English | Spanish

For information on how to get your documents notarized, visit our Notary Services page to find local and online notary services.

Reviews, reading guides and reading lists for all interests, covering fiction and nonfiction titles.

Novelist K-8 Plus allows you to discover fiction and nonfiction titles that are popular with young readers.

Explore and read thousands of eBooks and eAudiobooks, as well as dozens of eMagazines. Read in your browser or download your device (Libby app).

View a tutorial on YouTube: English | Spanish More tutorials: Reading/Listening in a Web Broser

Find current and past issues of over 800 titles–local, regional, national and international–such as the Chicago Tribune, China Daily, The Guardian, The Times of India, and The Wall Street Journal.

View YouTube Tutorial: Part 1 English | Spanish   Part 2 English | Spanish Part 3: English | Spanish | Part 4: English

Create lists of new homeowners, new business licenses, foreclosures and bankruptcies anywhere in the 7 county Chicagoland area.  Outside Library, use this link

ReferenceUSA is an electronic resource that is useful for finding businesses by name, address, city, state, phone number, or type of business. You can also find 120 million residential listings here.  Who can benefit by using ReferenceUSA? Job seekers looking for companies and contact names; salespeople looking for leads or conducting market research; entrepreneurs searching for business opportunities or suppliers; consumers locating out-of-town companies; vacationers finding motels, restaurants and attractions in other cities; and anyone looking for residential or commercial telephone numbers and addresses, will all find information here. Video tutorials and webinars are available from the ReferenceUSA Learning Center.

ReferenceUSA is available from home to Evanston library cardholders, and is available to anyone visiting the library in person.

Online children’s storybooks.

Complete text of the Salem press encyclopedias, Genetics and Psychology and Mental Health.

Includes Salem’s American history series, “The Decades,” from 1940-2000; Great Events from History, from ancient times to the present; and Milestone Documents in American History, a collection of primary source material.

E-books containing the full text of Literary Survey of Long Fiction, by Salem Press.

Complete text of Salem’s Encyclopedia of Global Resources and Encyclopedia of Global Warming.

The ProQuest Statistical Abstract of the United States is the authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic conditions of the United States.

An extensive site with an index to philanthropic literature, basic information for over 50,000 foundations, and links to the home pages of over 900 foundations.

TumbleBooks is an online tool for reading where kids can listen to books, read along, and play games. View a tutorial on YouTube: English | Spanish

Learn the basics of how to enroll in health insurance using healthcare.gov. This course looks at the process of determining eligibility, preparing to enroll, creating an account, and finding local help to successfully enroll in a health insurance plan as a part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as “Obamacare”.

Examine the events, trends, and attitudes of the time while browsing over a dozen different women’s magazines in high-resolution color, dated from the late-19th century through 2005.Titles include: Cosmopolitan, Essence, Good Housekeeping, Parents and Seventeen.