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The Anacostia Library will be closed from Monday, July 22 - Sunday, Aug. 4 for a scheduled facilities project. Learn more on the Anacostia Library page.

Research & Learn

Find trustworthy information, explore history, or learn a new skill. We have dozens of online resources to help. 

Popular Guides & Resources

Tutorials for Online Resources

Learn how to use our popular online resources through video tutorials.

The People's Archive

Learn how to use unique resources that illustrate D.C.'s local history and culture.

Support for Educators

Learn about services for educators, educator cards with special borrowing privileges, class visits, and online resources.

OverDrive & Libby

Borrow eBooks, Audiobooks, and digital magazines to read on your phone, tablet, Kindle or computer.

QuickSearch

Discover what our collection has to offer and search across many of our databases for journals and articles.

PressReader

Stay connected with the world with unlimited access to more than 7,000 publications from over 120 countries, in 60 different languages.

Find the Resources You Need

A

African American Experience

Articles on African American history and culture; includes slave narratives.

Library card required
African American Experience logo

Ancestry Library Edition

Get started with genealogy and explore the amazing history of you.

Library card required
Ancestry Library Edition logo

Archive-It

Selected archived websites from The People's Archive. Find archived websites that document the culture and history of Washington, D.C. including music, artists, blogs, obituaries, politics, and government.

Archive-it logo

Archives of Sexuality and Gender

Explore LGBTQ history with primary source content on social, political, health, and legal issues impacting LGBTQ communities around the world with Gale Primary Sources.

Library card required
Gale Primary Sources: Archives of Sexuality and Gender logo

B

Black Freedom Struggle in the United States

Website focused on Black Freedom, featuring select primary source documents related to critical people and events in African American history.

Black Freedom Struggle website logo

C

Classical Music Reference Library

Learn more about the history of western classical music. Provided by Alexander Street Press.

Library card required
Alexandria Street Classical Music Reference Library logo

D

Dig DC

Selected digital collections from The People's Archive. Find photos, maps, oral histories, and newspapers documenting the history of Washington D.C.

Dig DC logo

E

Evening Star

Research local news and history in the long considered "hometown paper of record" for the nation's capital from 1852-1981. Provided by Newsbank.

Library card required
The Evening Star logo

G

Gale eBooks

Digital encyclopedias and reference resources on a range of subjects from art, business, history, literature, medicine, multicultural studies and science.

Library card required
Gale eBooks logo

Gale in Context: Biography

Learn about the people who make history. Searches can be based on name, occupation, nationality, ethnicity, or gender.

Library card required
Gale in Context Biography logo

Gale in Context: Middle School

Research cultures, history, science and social issues for students in grades 6-8.

Library card required
Gale in Context: Middle School logo

Gale in Context: U.S. History

Discover American history from pre-colonial times to the present.

Library card required
Gale in Context: U.S. History logo

H

HeritageHub

Explore your family history with the premier collection of U.S. obituaries and death notices for in-depth genealogical research, 1704 – today. Previously named America's Obituaries and Death Notices by Newsbank.

Library card required
HeritageHub logo

HeritageQuest

Get started with genealogy and discover your family history.

Library card required
HeritageQuest logo

History Reference Center

Historical documents, biographies of historical figures, and historical photos, maps and videos.

Library card required
History Reference Center logo

O

Oxford English Dictionary

Get English language definitions, origins and history.

Library card required
Oxford English Dictionary logo

R

Ralph J. Bunche Oral Histories Collection on the Civil Rights Movement

Interview transcripts of individuals who made history during the Civil Rights Movement.

Library card required
Ralph J. Bunche Oral Histories Collection on the Civil Rights Movement logo

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