Islington Tribune - by JULIA PHILLIPS Published: 25 April 2008
Library users keep up with the Times
EVER wondered what happened on the day you were born? Or how the papers reported major historic events like the outbreak of the Second World War, or JFK’s assassination? You can find out by collecting a free copy of any page from The Times newspaper over a 200-year period from Islington Council, as part of the National Year of Reading celebrations.
Visitors to the Islington Reference Library, in Fieldway Crescent, Highbury, until tomorrow (Saturday), can collect a free A3-sized copy of any page from the paper from between 1785 and 1985.
Staff will help people find the right pages.
More residents in Islington have been joining libraries since the council relaxed membership requirements last year and allowed people to join without showing identification.
The Times digital archive is one of Islington libraries’ online resources that customers can now access for free.
The council hopes the newspaper offer will encourage even more people to sign up as part of their “Join a Library Day” tomorrow.
A council spokesman said: “If you haven’t visited an Islington library for some time, it’s well worth taking a look. The National Year of Reading is a great opportunity to get people into Islington libraries to see the improvements we’ve made.”