It’s the time of year that all Illinois genealogists look forward to: TryIt! Illinois time. Thanks to the Illinois State Library, we have free access for two months to hundreds of subscription databases above and beyond the ones available to Cook Memorial card holders.

The initiative called TryIt! Illinois  extends only until the the end of November, 2020. Genealogists will love digging into the newspaper and map databases, and we encourage you to try something new, maybe some of the history databases that can give so much background to our family stories.

Databases on a wide range of subjects, provided by major vendors including ProQuest, Ebsco and Gale-Cengage, are available to anyone who has the secret login and password. They’re not really secret, but we aren’t allowed to publish them online. To find out what they are, just stop by Cook Park or Aspen Drive libraries, or call (847-362-2330) and ask for the Adult Reference Desk.

If your exploration leads you to a database you would like us to subscribe to in the future, let us know and we’ll be sure to consider it.