With thousands of items in our collection, BCPL offers something for everyone to enjoy. We can’t wait to help you discover great books, movies, and more!
Whether you want to build computer skills, master a language, or just learn something new for the fun of it, we offer resources and services to help you become the person you want to be.
Use the menu to the right to learn about all available resources for a particular format (like e-books!), or click on a specific resource icon (like Hoopla!) to begin exploring available titles. With just a few simple clicks, you can access thousands of free e-books, audiobooks, music albums, videos, and more.
Get trusted financial insight from Barron’s, a leading source for expert market analysis, investment strategies, and global economic reporting. Now available paywall-free with your library card—whether you’re at home or at the library.
With Barron’s Digital Access, you can:
✅ Read unlimited articles on Barrons.com—no paywall ✅ Stay ahead with expert commentary on stock picks and market data ✅ Access the digital edition of Barron’s with full issues dating back to 1988 ✅ Receive insights through daily newsletters, videos, and podcasts
Access Barron’s from Anywhere!
Simply click here to create your account, and you can start using Barron’s immediately.
Your access will be available for the next 3 days.
This local, historical newspaper source provides genealogists, researchers, and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts from the Louisville Courier-Journal and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society, and events of the time. Available content spans from 1830 through 2000, including not only articles but also editorials, comics, obituaries, classifieds, legal notices, and more. For researchers seeking an authoritative, regional perspective on national and international events, as well as local perspectives on community news, the full-text, digitized pages of this newspaper (1830–2000) are a valuable resource in a variety of fields including history, political science, African-American studies, and genealogy.
Relevant focus areas include:
African American Studies
Agriculture
American History
Culture
Economics
Genealogy
Government
History
Industrialization
Political Science
Sports
The US Civil War
Your library barcode will be required for remote access.
Powered by Ancestry and distributed by ProQuest, Newspapers.com– World Collections provides online access to 4,000+ historical newspapers.
Dating from the early 1700s into the 2000s, the database contains full runs and portions of runs of well-known regional and state titles as well as small local newspapers from the United States and other countries. It offers invaluable content for researchers, historians, genealogists, teachers, and students. With ongoing updates and new issues continually being added, there’s always more to be discovered.
Features include:
Find newspapers by country, state, and city
Discover interesting clipping from other users or create and save your own
Link clippings to your family trees on Ancestry.com
Set Search Alerts to automatically run your search on newly added newspapers
Follow a paper’s “page” or another user’s profile to catch new discoveries related to your own research
Understand the world. Navigate life. Access The New York Times here.
Whether you’re managing finances, tackling tough parenting problems, or simply looking to make sense of this moment, rely on original, quality journalism from The New York Times to lead the way. It’s an essential source for fearless reporting, varied perspectives, and practical advice on nearly every topic—from the vital issues shaping our world to the simple pleasures that make everyday life better.
The New York Times Digital subscription provides unlimited access to current New York Times articles but does not include New York Times Cooking or Crosswords.
Selected articles are also available in Spanish and Chinese.
ACCESS INSTRUCTIONS *Please note, the READ ON link on NYTimes.com leads to a newsletter subscription page. However, you can bypass or navigate away to explore all that the New York Times Digital subscription has to offer!
Inside the library:
Use a BCPL computer or connect your device to our Wi-Fi.
This database, provided by Kentucky Virtual Library and ProQuest, contains full-text newspapers and magazines from alternative, independent presses rather than the mainstream media.The database features over 670,000 articles from more than 230 publications, offering a wide range of unfettered, critical coverage of the news. All of these varied alternative and independent presses are presented in 100% full text, allowing researchers total access to regional, rural, and metropolitan perspectives on local, national, and international issues. Providing an alternative to corporate controlled media, the Alt-Press Watch database presents big stories from small sources.
Alt-Press Watch gives readers and researchers access to distinctive, thought-provoking titles, many of which cannot be found in any other database. Magazines and journals of the independent press such as Broken Pencil, which focuses on zine culture, Dissent, Solidarity’s Against the Current, The American Conservative, Left Curve, The Braille Forum and Earth First! provide in-depth coverage of a broad range of critical issues confronting contemporary society, including environment activism, disabilities, public policy, and facets of the political spectrum. And alternative newsweeklies like Eugene Weekly, Missoula Independent, and The Village Voice offer non-mainstream perspectives on government, policy, and culture; report on local, national, and international issues; and cover hot-button topics like hunger, abuse, religion, and pop culture. The Alt-Press Watch database includes these titles and many others, providing an unmatched, multi-disciplinary resource for researchers seeking an alternative to mainstream media perspectives.
Alt-PressWatch is accessible through the Kentucky Virtual Library Proquest portal. A special username and password are required for home access; ask at any BCPL service desk for the login credentials or call the main library at 543-7675.
Kentucky Libraries Unbound powered by OverDrive allows you to download or stream audiobooks, e-books, digital magazines, and video to your PC, Mac®, or one of many mobile devices. You can check out up to 10 items at a time with your library card and PIN. Certain software may be required for use.
You can also take e-books, audiobooks, and more on the go with the Libby app!
This comprehensive treasury contains unique American genealogical sources, local and family histories, convenient research guides, interactive census maps, and more.
This database provides information on thousands of authors and their works across literary disciplines and time frames. Students, professors, and researchers can use this comprehensive database for their research needs, including full texts of classic works alongside synopses, critical essays, author biographies, study guides, lesson plans, and more. Plus access a variety of literary journals, reference books, and even video lessons and drama productions.
Use the EBSCOhost—Home Access portal for remote access; a valid library card is required for use outside a BCPL library location.
Let your research begin with EBSCO! Access FULL-TEXT magazine and journal articles, or choose from a selection of special-topic databases such as Academic Search Complete, Agricola, ERIC, GreenFILE, MasterFILE Premier, Newspaper Source, PsycINFO, Regional Business News, Teacher Reference Center, and more.
Hoopla Flex access begins October 15, 2024! Instant borrows are now available and will remain available.
Hoopla is your gateway to streaming movies, TV shows, music, e-books, audiobooks, comics, and more—free with your library card! Enjoy instant access to millions of titles, including The Great Courses, 50+ digital magazines, and other specialty content through the BingePass feature.
Families will love browsing in Kids Mode to discover kid-friendly titles designed to entertain and educate younger readers and viewers. You can also download content through the Hoopla Digital app for offline access anytime, anywhere.
And starting October 15th, our collection gets even bigger with the launch of Hoopla Flex!
Hoopla Instant
Hoopla Instant titles—marked by a lightning bolt icon⚡—are available anytime with no holds or waitlists. You’ll continue to have access to over 1.9 million instantly available titles and enjoy 12 Instant borrowsper month.
What’s included with Instant?
Movies, TV shows, comics, music, e-books, audiobooks, and BingePasses
Always available to stream or download instantly
Hoopla Flex
Hoopla Flex offers a curated selection of popular and high-demand audiobooks, handpicked by library staff based on patron requests and anticipated demand. Flex titles—identified by a revolving arrow icon🔄—allow you to borrow up to 5 Flex titles at a time, with the option to place holds if an item is checked out. If you run out of Flex borrows, simply return one title and select a new one. This way, you will never run out of content options!
How does Hoopla Flex work?
One person at a time can borrow a Flex title, similar to traditional library lending.
If an item is unavailable, simply place ahold and Hoopla will notify you when it’s ready.
Unlike Instant borrows, Flex borrowsdo not reset monthly. Each borrow lasts 21 days with up to two renewals (as long as no one else is waiting).
Our initial Flex collection focuses on audiobooks—the most in-demand format among our patrons already using Hoopla. Additional formats may be added in the future.
Why use both Hoopla Instant & Flex?
With Hoopla Instant, you have the freedom to stream a wide range of content anytime, anywhere. Hoopla Flex gives you access to sought-after audiobooks, perfect for when you’ve used up your Instant borrows or want to reserve high-demand titles.
Both collections are available through the same Hoopla app you already love, keeping it simple to browse, borrow, and explore!
Get ready to hold less and discover more with Hoopla Flex—available October 15th!
Invest smarter. Go beyond the headlines.
