Online resources

As a service to Union County residents, the Union County Library System subscribes to many online resources for convenient 24/7 access to reliable information. You’ll find everything from free downloadable audiobooks and eBooks to access to magazines, newspapers, encyclopedias, video clips and images, plus much more.

To use these valuable information sources, available only through your public library, you will need an active UCLS library card.

To search/browse useful Web sites hand-picked by our reference librarians, see also “Find an answer.”

  • POWER Library, or Pennsylvania Online World of Electronic Resources, is a large collection of useful and reliable databases (Public Library for Union County access, Herr Memorial Library access, West End Library access).
  • Blooms Literary Reference features hundreds of Harold Bloom’s essays examining the lives and works of great writers throughout history and the world, as well as thousands of critical articles by noted scholars. Includes extensive entries on literary topics, themes, movements, timelines and genres.  Bloom’s Literary Reference Online
  • World Book Online is the online version of the most trusted encyclopedia. It contains thousands of articles, interactive maps, state-of-the art multimedia, editor-reviewed Web sites and more. Separate interfaces for preschoolers, elementary students, middle and high school students, adults and Spanish language learners make it the primary resource for all ages. World Book Online
  • Overdrive Digital Media offers popular audiobooks and eBooks to lend to patrons for download on a smart phone, computer, MP3 player, or eReaders. Browse for bestsellers, classics, fiction, or nonfiction then transfer them to a compatible device or burn them to CDs. Download audiobooks and eBooks
  • TumbleBooks Library (For ages 1 through elementary school) is an amazing collection of 300 animated talking picture books and 40 chapter books which teach kids the joy of reading in a format they’ll love. TumbleBooks are created by taking existing books, adding animation, sound, music and narration to produce an electronic book which you can read, or have read to you. Tumblebooks Library also contains 160 games, puzzles and lots of other fun activities.   Watch the Tumblebooks Library Tour