Resources

is a comprehensive database that provides users with a broad spectrum of information on thousands of authors and their works across literary disciplines and timeframes. LRC is a full text database that combines content from major respected reference works, monographs, classic books and anthologies, literary journals as well as original content from EBSCO.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Authoritatively ranked lists of books sold in the United States, sorted by format and genre.

Use this database to find good reads for elementary-aged children.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Helps you find books that you are interested in reading. Search by subject, title, or genre and find a variety of books as well as suggested readalikes for your favorite authors.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Premier Reference and Marketing Database including 30 million business profiles & 220 million residents. Ideal for sales leads, mailing lists, market research, employment opportunities, finding friends and relatives, and much more!
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Business Source Premier is the industry’s most popular business research database, featuring the full text for more than 2,200 journals. Full text is provided back to 1965, and searchable cited references back to 1998.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Fast Background Checks. Search Public Records, Find Contact Information, Criminal Arrest Records, Information on Properties, and More
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

SCORE is a nonprofit association dedicated to educating entrepreneurs and helping small businesses start, grow, and succeed nationwide. SCORE is a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and has been mentoring small business owners for more than fifty years.

Build Academic & Workplace Skills with Easy-to-Use Online Resources. Improve your basic skills with Math, reading, and writing tutorials. Learn about in-demand careers. Prepare for occupational exams as well as the ACT®, SAT®, AP®, GED®, HiSET®, and TASC tests. Tutorials, practice tests, eBooks and more.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Illinois Public Records provided by Record Information Services, Scroll through Chicagoland’s public records. Real estate transactions, mortgages, foreclosures, and more. Keep an eye on housing values in your community and help safeguard your biggest investment – your home. Sort by name, city, zip code, and more. Record Information Services is a 18 year old data compiler of public records serving the Chicagoland area.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was created in 1953 as an independent agency of the federal government to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy.

Small Business Reference Center offers exclusive full text for many top consumer small business reference books, as well as tools to address many small business topics. It includes business videos, a help and advice section and details on how to create business plans.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Enjoy digital books, images, videos and more from libraries, artists, authors and others from your community and around the world.

Borrow eBooks,  eAudiobooks, and more from Overdrive’s digital collections.

Brought to you by the Illinois Secretary of State and using Axis 360, the West Chicago Public Library offers patrons thousands of free eBooks and Audiobooks.  All you need is a compatible device and a library card!

A Collection of more than 300 online reference books covering a wide range of subjects such as art, business, health, history, science, religion, and more.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

TumbleBooks are animated, talking picture books which teach kids the joy of reading in a format they’ll love. TumbleBooks are created by taking existing picture books, adding animation, sound, music and narration to produce an electronic picture book which you can read, or have read to you.

TumbleMath has the most comprehensive collection of math stories available anywhere- all in our world famous TumbleBook format which combines animation, narration, and sound to create a compelling and enticing story book for students of all ages. The books are accompanied by supplementary materials such as lesson plans and quizzes.

Perform genealogy research with census records, ships’ passenger logs and more.

U.S. Census Records from 1790 – 1930 and from over 25,000 family and local histories.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Find historical photos of West Chicago from the West Chicago City Museum collections.

AtoZMapsOnline.com is the world’s largest subscription-based database of proprietary, royalty-free world, continent, country, and state maps. Included in the 4,000+ maps are: political maps, physical maps, outline maps, population maps, precipitation maps, climate maps, and other thematic maps. New maps are added to the collection every month.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Academic Search Premier was designed for the premier researcher, rich with the most valuable, comprehensive multidisciplinary content available. As a leading scholarly database, it encompasses the expansive academic disciplines now being offered in colleges and universities. Users accessing this resource will be provided with comprehensive content right at their fingertips, including PDF backfiles to 1975 or further for well over one hundred journals, and searchable cited references for more than 1,050 titles.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

A powerful search and discovery engine. Ideal for research assignments or general curiosity.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

A Collection of more than 300 online reference books covering a wide range of subjects such as art, business, health, history, science, religion, and more.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

MasterFile provides full text for thousands of general reference magazines, reference books, and primary source documents. This database also provides an Image Collection containing photos, maps & flags, and covers a wide-range of subject areas including business, health, education, general science, multicultural issues and much more.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

contains primary source documents including Essential Documents in American History, reference books such as the Funk & Wagnall’s New World Encyclopedia; New Oxford American Dictionary, 2nd Edition; Encyclopedia of Animals; and thousands of relevant photos, maps and flags. This database contains full text for a variety of popular middle school magazines. All full-text articles are assigned a reading level indicator (Lexiles). Full text is also available for thousands of biographies and historical essays.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Containing resources that present multiple sides of an issue, this database provides the basis from which students can realize and develop persuasive arguments and essays, better understand controversial issues and develop analytical thinking skills.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Containing full-text for more than 80 of the most popular elementary school magazines, Primary Search is designed specifically for elementary school children.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

The WORLD BOOK ENCYCLOPEDIA reference on the Web.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

For more than 75 years, World News Digest has been a go-to resource for context and background on key issues and events in the news.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

is designed for the everyday consumer of health care information. CHC provides convenient access to easily understandable health and medical information. Consumers can search and browse within medical encyclopedias, popular reference books, and magazine articles.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

MedlinePlus is the National Institutes of Health’s Web site for patients and their families and friends. Produced by the National Library of Medicine, the world’s largest medical library, it brings you information about diseases, conditions, and wellness issues in language you can understand. MedlinePlus offers reliable, up-to-date health information, anytime, anywhere, for free.

contains full text for hundreds of science encyclopedias, reference books, magazines and other sources. Topics covered in Science Reference Center include biology, chemistry, earth and space science, environmental science, health and medicine, history of science, life science, physics, science and society, science as inquiry, scientists, technology and wildlife.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

AtoZMapsOnline.com is the world’s largest subscription-based database of proprietary, royalty-free world, continent, country, and state maps. Included in the 4,000+ maps are: political maps, physical maps, outline maps, population maps, precipitation maps, climate maps, and other thematic maps. New maps are added to the collection every month.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Find historical photos of West Chicago from the West Chicago City Museum collections.

features full text for more than 1,990 reference books, magazines, encyclopedias and non-fiction books from leading history publishers.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Premier Reference and Marketing Database including 30 million business profiles & 220 million residents. Ideal for sales leads, mailing lists, market research, employment opportunities, finding friends and relatives, and much more!
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Build Academic & Workplace Skills with Easy-to-Use Online Resources. Improve your basic skills with Math, reading, and writing tutorials. Learn about in-demand careers. Prepare for occupational exams as well as the ACT®, SAT®, AP®, GED®, HiSET®, and TASC tests. Tutorials, practice tests, eBooks and more.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Training, connecting, and developing the workforce of DuPage County.  Provides job search advice, job search workshops, job fairs, layoff recovery resources, and resource room with computers.

DuPage County IL Government Website

Legal Information Reference Center is an online database designed to assist the general public in legal matters of all kinds. It includes exclusive full text for many top consumer legal reference books, as well as thousands of legal forms.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

USA.gov is your online guide to government information and services.

Build Academic & Workplace Skills with Easy-to-Use Online Resources. Improve your basic skills with Math, reading, and writing tutorials. Learn about in-demand careers. Prepare for occupational exams as well as the ACT®, SAT®, AP®, GED®, HiSET®, and TASC tests. Tutorials, practice tests, eBooks and more.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

ProCitizen is a comprehensive citizenship prep course that contains 100 videos, plus interactive drills and quizzes.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

This versatile language learning product allows you to learn how to speak 75 different languages. It includes instruction from native speakers to guide you through learning the language of your choice in your primary language! There is also an English as a Second Language (ESL) component built in to the program. When you create an account, this database will keep track of your progress and let you pick up learning the language of your choice right where you left off. Try it today!
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

DuPage County IL Government Website

DuPage County launched a new web-based application that will provide navigation tools and information about the DuPage County trail system.

Find historical photos of West Chicago from the West Chicago City Museum collections.

A suite of resources – available to everyone in Illinois at no charge – that supports local authors with online creation and publishing tools and allows readers to access locally-produced content.

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

Explore and stay informed on local and state 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 spanning the Chicago area including the Beacon News, Chicago Sun-Times, Daily Herald and West Chicago Suburban Life. Available remotely 24/7 on any device.

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. Also available remotely 24/7 on any device.

Explore West Chicago 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.

Borrow from more than 3,000 titles from Overdrive’s digital magazine collections.

A next-generation magazine service that allows people to browse digital versions of the latest issues of popular magazines, courtesy of the library.

Search full-text articles on local news, issues, events, people and more from current and archived issues of the West Chicago Suburban Life. Available remotely 24/7 on any device.

Freegal® is a free music service from your library. All you need is your library card number and some libraries utilize a PIN. Freegal offers access to about 7 million songs, including Sony Music’s catalog of legendary artists. In total the collection is comprised of music from over 28,000 labels with music that originates in over 80 countries. There is no software to download, and there are no digital rights management (DRM) restrictions. Access to Freegal is limited to patrons of subscribing libraries.

Premier Reference and Marketing Database including 30 million business profiles & 220 million residents. Ideal for sales leads, mailing lists, market research, employment opportunities, finding friends and relatives, and much more!
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

AtoZMapsOnline.com is the world’s largest subscription-based database of proprietary, royalty-free world, continent, country, and state maps. Included in the 4,000+ maps are: political maps, physical maps, outline maps, population maps, precipitation maps, climate maps, and other thematic maps. New maps are added to the collection every month.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Explore food culture and traditional recipes from around the world. It’s a movable feast in a digital cookbook.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Academic Search Premier was designed for the premier researcher, rich with the most valuable, comprehensive multidisciplinary content available. As a leading scholarly database, it encompasses the expansive academic disciplines now being offered in colleges and universities. Users accessing this resource will be provided with comprehensive content right at their fingertips, including PDF backfiles to 1975 or further for well over one hundred journals, and searchable cited references for more than 1,050 titles.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Perform genealogy research with census records, ships’ passenger logs and more.

This database contains do-it-yourself repair and maintenance information on most major manufacturers of domestic and imported vehicles. New repair procedures, TSBs and updates are added to the product on a regular basis. All of the content has been created by ASE certified technicians.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Business Source Premier is the industry’s most popular business research database, featuring the full text for more than 2,200 journals. Full text is provided back to 1965, and searchable cited references back to 1998.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Fast Background Checks. Search Public Records, Find Contact Information, Criminal Arrest Records, Information on Properties, and More
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

is designed for the everyday consumer of health care information. CHC provides convenient access to easily understandable health and medical information. Consumers can search and browse within medical encyclopedias, popular reference books, and magazine articles.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Consumer Reports enables consumers to make better purchasing decisions on the products they are shopping for. Whether a user is looking to find the best deal on an LCD TV, or researching the top-recommended used vehicles, ConsumerReports.org provides ratings and reviews, recommendations and buying advice for thousands of products and services.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

A powerful search and discovery engine. Ideal for research assignments or general curiosity.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Find a Book or Journal Article by Searching WorldCat; WilsonSelect; ArticlesFirst; WorldAlmanac and GPO
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

A Collection of more than 300 online reference books covering a wide range of subjects such as art, business, health, history, science, religion, and more.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

U.S. Census Records from 1790 – 1930 and from over 25,000 family and local histories.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

features full text for more than 1,990 reference books, magazines, encyclopedias and non-fiction books from leading history publishers.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

his database offers detailed “how-to” instructions and creative ideas to meet the interests of virtually every hobby enthusiast. Full text is provided from leading hobby and craft magazines.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Through a collection of comprehensive full-text content, this database provides users with detailed, user-friendly “how-to” information covering a variety of home improvement and repair projects.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Build Academic & Workplace Skills with Easy-to-Use Online Resources. Improve your basic skills with Math, reading, and writing tutorials. Learn about in-demand careers. Prepare for occupational exams as well as the ACT®, SAT®, AP®, GED®, HiSET®, and TASC tests. Tutorials, practice tests, eBooks and more.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Legal Information Reference Center is an online database designed to assist the general public in legal matters of all kinds. It includes exclusive full text for many top consumer legal reference books, as well as thousands of legal forms.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

A leading online learning platform that helps anyone learn business, software, technology and creative skills to achieve personal and professional goals.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN.

is a comprehensive database that provides users with a broad spectrum of information on thousands of authors and their works across literary disciplines and timeframes. LRC is a full text database that combines content from major respected reference works, monographs, classic books and anthologies, literary journals as well as original content from EBSCO.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

MasterFile provides full text for thousands of general reference magazines, reference books, and primary source documents. This database also provides an Image Collection containing photos, maps & flags, and covers a wide-range of subject areas including business, health, education, general science, multicultural issues and much more.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

contains primary source documents including Essential Documents in American History, reference books such as the Funk & Wagnall’s New World Encyclopedia; New Oxford American Dictionary, 2nd Edition; Encyclopedia of Animals; and thousands of relevant photos, maps and flags. This database contains full text for a variety of popular middle school magazines. All full-text articles are assigned a reading level indicator (Lexiles). Full text is also available for thousands of biographies and historical essays.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Use this database to find good reads for elementary-aged children.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Helps you find books that you are interested in reading. Search by subject, title, or genre and find a variety of books as well as suggested readalikes for your favorite authors.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Containing resources that present multiple sides of an issue, this database provides the basis from which students can realize and develop persuasive arguments and essays, better understand controversial issues and develop analytical thinking skills.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Containing full-text for more than 80 of the most popular elementary school magazines, Primary Search is designed specifically for elementary school children.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

ProCitizen is a comprehensive citizenship prep course that contains 100 videos, plus interactive drills and quizzes.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

This versatile language learning product allows you to learn how to speak 75 different languages. It includes instruction from native speakers to guide you through learning the language of your choice in your primary language! There is also an English as a Second Language (ESL) component built in to the program. When you create an account, this database will keep track of your progress and let you pick up learning the language of your choice right where you left off. Try it today!
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Illinois Public Records provided by Record Information Services, Scroll through Chicagoland’s public records. Real estate transactions, mortgages, foreclosures, and more. Keep an eye on housing values in your community and help safeguard your biggest investment – your home. Sort by name, city, zip code, and more. Record Information Services is a 18 year old data compiler of public records serving the Chicagoland area.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

contains full text for hundreds of science encyclopedias, reference books, magazines and other sources. Topics covered in Science Reference Center include biology, chemistry, earth and space science, environmental science, health and medicine, history of science, life science, physics, science and society, science as inquiry, scientists, technology and wildlife.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Small Business Reference Center offers exclusive full text for many top consumer small business reference books, as well as tools to address many small business topics. It includes business videos, a help and advice section and details on how to create business plans.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

The WORLD BOOK ENCYCLOPEDIA reference on the Web.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

For more than 75 years, World News Digest has been a go-to resource for context and background on key issues and events in the news.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN. 

Writer’s Reference Center provides users with a convenient one-stop location for all of the tools necessary to write and research effectively. From the mechanics of writing and grammar to style and research, this indispensable online resource thoroughly covers the fundamentals of quality writing, provides a wealth of vocabulary-building dictionaries, and presents a step-by-step guide to writing a good essay. An in-depth grammar section defines grammatical terms and gives examples of use, while another section explores writing style. Writing resources teach users how best to revise their work, and the intuitive design allows users to find relevant information quickly through customizable searches and browsing.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN.

contains full text for hundreds of science encyclopedias, reference books, magazines and other sources. Topics covered in Science Reference Center include biology, chemistry, earth and space science, environmental science, health and medicine, history of science, life science, physics, science and society, science as inquiry, scientists, technology and wildlife.
*Access anywhere with your valid library card and PIN.