Services for Adults
1st Way Life Center: Pregnancy Support Service | Provides assistance, emotional and financial support for women and girls who find themselves in a crisis pregnancy. Offers pregnancy testing and limited ultrasound screening as well as many other services.
Administer Justice | combines legal services, educational services, conflict resolution services, and financial education services as part of a comprehensive community justice center.
Adult and Child Therapy Services | Provides physical, occupational and speech therapy to McHenry County residents of all ages. Also provides free developmental screenings and free fall risk screenings
Blessing Barn | Provides basic life need items (clothing, household, kitchen, misc. other items) to those who consider themselves in need.
CARE Center | The only rape crisis center serving the McHenry County area. All services are FREE. 24/7 crisis intervention, 24/7 medical and legal advocacy, and counseling by appointment.
Centegra Health Systems | Full-service health system with emergency rooms and acute medical services. Outpatient services include laboratory services, physician services, wound care, diabetes education, physical, occupational and speech therapies, dietary consultations, sleep disorders center, back and spine center.
Centegra Behavioral Health Services | Inpatient Psychiatric unit located at Centegra Hospital-Woodstock. Partial Hospitalization and Intensive outpatient programs for adults with mental health and substance use disorders located at Centegra South Street in Woodstock.
Community Health Partnership of Illinois | Community Health Clinic for the community at large with a special focus on migrant and seasonal agriculture workers. Primary health care, insurance enrollment services, patient assistance services. Sliding scale fee based on income and household size.
Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Northeern Illinois, Inc. | Credit and debt counseling and education, mortgage default and foreclosure prevention counseling and education, bankruptcy pre-filing counseling and pre-discharge education, debt management program to repay unsecured debt, pre-purchase housing education, and credit report analysis.
Diaper Bank of Northern Illinois | Provides diapers for infants and children of low-income families, disabled children and adults, the sick, and the elderly, in an effort to improve the daily health, safety, and conditions of their lives.
Direct Assistance Program | Provide a process that clients in need may seek emergency financial aid. Can assist with Pace passes, gas, food, clothing, and some prescribed medications.
Epilepsy Foundation | Telemedicine, clinics, medical navigation, support groups, case management for McHenry County residents with epilepsy or concerns of epilepsy.
Family Health Partnership Clinic | The Clinic provides primary health care to people without health insurance. These services are provided through a small a staff and 29 volunteers.
Free Government Cell Phones | Do you qualify for a free government cell phone?
Gateway Alcohol & Drug Treatment Centers | Illinois' largest provider of substance abuse treatment with 10 treatment sites across the state of Illinois, Gateway gives individuals the tools and knowledge they need to overcome addiction and get life back on track.
Home of the Sparrow | Provides transitional and affordable housing and supportive services to homeless women and children. Supportive services include: financial management/budgeting, life skills instruction, career planning,/job readiness training, parenting skills education, and trauma recovery.
Illinois Department of Employment Security | To file for unemployment and search for jobs.
Illinois Department of Human Services | Local Office receives applications for Cash, SNAP, and Medical Assistance by fax, mail or in person.
Illinois Department of Veteran Affairs | File claims for veterans and dependents.
Illinois Migrant Council | "The Illinois Migrant Council or "IMC" is a community-based non-profit organization with the primary mission of promoting employment, education, health, housing and other opportunities for migrant and seasonal farmworkers (MSFW) and their families to achieve economic self-sufficiency and stability."
Informed Choices Pregnancy and Parenting | Offers many services provided at no charge by a full staff of peer counselors and medical staff. Services include but are not limited to: pregnancy testing and verification, peer counseling, parenting classes, obstetrical ultrasound examination.
Lake County Center for Independent Living | "A non-residential, cross-disability organization governed and staffed by a majority of people with disabilities."
License Plate Discount | Formerly part of the Circuit Breaker Program. The Secretary of State's office sends eligible seniors a notification after they are accepted into the Illinois Department on Aging's program. When you buy license plates or renew your license plate sticker, you must submit the notification to verify that you are qualified for the discount. If you have already renewed your license plate sticker and paid full price, and are now part of the Benefit Access Program, you may be eligible for a refund. Call the Secretary of State's Office at 800-252-8980 for more information. Click here for assistance with your application.
Main Stay Therapeutic Farm, Inc. | Provides equine and animal-assisted therapeutic activities including therapeutic horseback riding.
Marengo Area OutReach Enterprises | Offers assistance with food, clothing, and emergency financial assistance, especially those facing eviction or utility shut-offs. A Salvation Army extension branch.
McHenry Community Health Center | Provides quality, affordable health care for all, including any person who is publicly insured, underinsured or uninsured. The Health Center offers a wide variety of services including: pediatric care, adult medicine, Obstetrics/Gynecology, chronic disease management, immunizations, physicals, WIC, public benefits enrollment, etc.
McHenry County 2024 Resource Directory - English | People in Need Forum.
McHenry County 2024 Libro De Recursos - Espanol | People in Need Forum.
McHenry County Court Services | Probation officers provide assistance and guidance to the offender so that he/she may be reintegrated into society in a productive and meaningful manner.
McHenry County Crisis | A 24 hour/7 days a week program designed to assist individuals who require mental health resources/referrals or a face-to-face consultation with a crisis counselor. Hotline: 1-800-892-8900
McHenry County Department of Health | Offers immunizations, family health, dental exams, lead screening, early ID of develpmental disabilities, pregnancy testing and prenatal case management.
McHenry County Housing Authority | Provides rental assistance, public housing, senior housing, energy assistance, weatherization, home rehab, homeless prevention, dental vouchers, past due rent assistance and first month rent and security deposit assistance.
McHenry PADS | is a charitable not-for-profit organization with a mission to provide emergency, transitional and preventative measures for homeless individuals and families of McHenry County.
Shelter locations | To learn about the various shelters throughout McHenry County click here.
McHenry Township General & Emergency Assistance | General Assistance is available through the township for residents with very low or no income. The township also may provide Emergency Assistance based on the situation and need. In addition to assistance for shelter, food, clothing and medical, the staff of the supervisor’s office will work with residents to find employment and other sources of assistance. 815-385-5605.
Old Firehouse Assistance Center | offers hot showers, snacks and meals, quiet places to rest, free hair cuts, housing opportunity information, individualized assistance. Located at 120 W. South St. Woodstock, IL 60098. The Old Firehouse is open every Wednesday and Thursday from 9am to 3pm.
Pioneer Center for Human Services | Pioneer Center for Human Services serves persons with developmental disabilities, mental illness, traumatic brain injury and provides early intervention therapies for children from birth to age five. It also serves victims of sexual assault through the VOICE program and homeless men, women, and children through the PADS program.
Ride Free Transit Benefit | Formerly known as the Circuit Breaker Program. Determine if you are eligible here.
Rosecrance | alcohol and drug rehabilitation centers.
TLS Veterans | Transitional Living Services of McHenry is dedicated to helping veterans find a job, reintegrate into society and assisting him or her with finding affordable housing.
Veterans Commission of McHenry County | The Veterans Assistance Commission of McHenry County Provides services to the local veterans community in the areas of Financial Assistance, VA Claims & Advocacy, Transportation to the North Chicago VA Medical Center, and Referrals Assistance.
Services for Seniors
Services for Youth
Transportation & Maps
IDOT Current Road Construction | road condition reports, current road construction projects, closures, etc.
Illinois Department of Transportation | Bicycle Maps
Metra | system map and schedules.
allows older adults, age 65 and older, and qualified people with disabilities and Medicare recipients to ride all RTA fixed-route services (regularly scheduled CTA, Metra and Pace buses or trains in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will Counties) at a reduced fare.
Pace | Schedules & Maps. City of McHenry Reservations: 1-800-451-4599.
Pace Dial-a-Ride Service Directory
Access Anytime, Anywhere
All databases can be accessed within the library, and most of them are available 24/7 from home.
For remote use, you will need a valid MPLD library card; click on the name of the database and follow the instructions for remote access.
Database Vendor Accessibility and Privacy Documents
A B C D-F G H I-J K-M N-P R S-Z
Access Video on Demand: Just for Kids | Features books and stories brought to life, resources for early learners, exploring our world, homework help, TV shows, and all about nature, all from well-known and respected producers like Sesame Street, Reading Rainbow and PBS.
African American History | A comprehensive examination of more than five centuries of the African-American experience. One of Infobase Learning's History databases to assist educators and students in their research needs. Fully revised, cross-searchable, and seamlessly integrated for complete history coverage.
AGRICOLA | contains bibliographic records from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Library, AGRICOLA provides millions of citations relating to the field of agriculture.
America's News | Explore and stay informed on local and national 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 U.S. Also available remotely 24/7 on any device.
American History Online | Spans more than 500 years of political, military, social, and cultural history covering the American experience. One of Infobase Learning's History databases to assist educators and students in their research needs. Fully revised, cross-searchable, and seamlessly integrated for complete history coverage.
American Indian History Online | 15,000 years of American Indian history and culture. One of Infobase Learning's History databases to assist educators and students in their research needs. F ully revised, cross-searchable, and seamlessly integrated for complete history coverage.
Ancestry Library Edition™ | (IN LIBRARY ONLY) Complete U. S. Census records for 1790-1930, including military records, court, land and probate records, vital and church records, directories, passenger lists and more.
Ancient and Medieval History Online | An extensive exploration of world history, from pre-history through the 1500s. One of Infobase Learning's History databases to assist educators and students in their research needs. Fully revised, cross-searchable, and seamlessly integrated for complete history coverage.
AtoZdatabases | The premier Reference, Research, Marketing, Mailing Lists/Sales Leads, and Job-Search Database.
Auto Repair Source | provides library users with the most accurate, authoritative and up-to-date “do-it-yourself” service and repair information for thousands of domestic and imported cars, SUVs, vans and light trucks.
Biography Reference Center | provides thousands of unique and reliable full-text biographies, including the complete full text of Biography and Biography Today.
Bloom's Literary Reference Online | Examines great writers, important works, memorable characters, and influential movements and events in world literature.
Book Index with Reviews | Provides information on more than 5 million book titles in a wide range of formats, and also contains 800,000 full-text searchable book reviews from sources like Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Booklist and others.
BIR Entertainment | Find music or videos featuring a favorite artist or performer, or a specific genre. Currently information about 450,000 music titles and 200,000 DVD/video titles.
Business Source Elite | encompasses a selection of business disciplines, offering access to 492 active full-text journals, along with abstracted and indexed journals.
Regional Business News | provides full-text regional business publications for the United States and Canadian provinces.
Consumer Reports | Provides ratings, reviews, recommendations and buying advice for cars, appliances, electronics, home and garden, baby products, and more.
Culturegrams | Want to know more about the world’s people? Start here! Learn about each country’s history, customs, government, and general attitudes. Listen to the national anthem, view photos, and try recipes. Read interviews in which people from around the world describe their challenges, ambitions, and everyday.
From home: Click on this remote link.
Encyclopedia Britannica | Full-text articles from the complete encyclopedia. This is the library edition.
From home: Click on this remote link. You'll be asked to enter your library card number.
Facts on File Reference Suite | Brings together six different reference resources: American History Online, Modern World History Online, Ferguson's Career Guidance Center, Science Online, World News Digest, and Issues and Controversies on File.
Ferguson's Career Guidance Center | Provides profiles of nearly 3,400 jobs and 94 industries, invaluable advice on career skills, thousands of resource entries, and more!
FinancialFit | includes a curated collection of personal finance lessons to guide learners in making life’s biggest financial decisions. FinancialFit features a bright, modern design and easy-to-identify content categories. The content is personalized to each user’s interests and assumes no prior financial knowledge.
First Search | All topics. Search for books, music, movies as well as full-text articles from magazines, medical journals, and government publications. Includes 16 different databases. From home: Click on this remote link.
Fold3 Library Edition | provides convenient access to military records, including the stories, photos, and personal documents of the men and women who served.
Gale Business: Plan Builder | Step-by-step online planning tool for starting, managing and optimizing a business or nonprofit. The program’s intuitive dashboard walks users through five areas of exploration to develop a business plan focused on long-term success.
Health Reference Center | Gives clear and comprehensive information on conditions and diseases, health and wellness, mental health, and the human body. Materials contained in this resource is intended for informational purposes only.
Health Source: Consumer Edition | a rich collection of consumer health information provides access to full-text consumer health magazines and reference materials.
Hobbies and Crafts Source | a database of detailed "how to" instructions and creative do-it-yourself ideas that meet the interests of nearly every hobby enthusiast.
Illinois Public Records | 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.
From home: Click on this remote link. You'll be asked to enter your library card number.
Inkie.org | 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.
Issues and Controversies | Explores hundreds of hot topics in politics, government, business, society, education, and popular culture.
LearningExpress Library | An easy-to-use e-learning platform featuring online tutorials, practice tests and e-books to help you achieve your educational and professional goals. In addition to helping you improve your skills in reading, writing, math and basic science
Legal GPS | Learn the steps of how to start your own small business with Legal GPS, an interactive tool to help those who are new to the business world.
Legal Source | is the definitive resource for keeping up to date with current legal issues, studies, thoughts, and trends.
Mango Languages | Includes Spanish, French, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, and Japanese and ESL courses for those learning English and a translation tool for written text. Create a Mango account to keep track of your progress in the lessons.
MasterFILE Complete | offers the highest quality collection of popular full-text magazines, reference books, videos and other sources covering virtually every subject area.
Modern World History Online | Covers the people, places, and events in the broad expanse of history—from the mid-15th century to the present.
Newspapers.com Library Edition | Newspapers.com Library Edition is an extensive online database of 3,000+ historical newspapers from the early 1700s into the early 2000s. Distributed by ProQuest, it contains a diverse blend of well-known regional and local newspapers in Illinois.
From home: Click on this remote link
Niche Academy | An easy-to-use database that allows patrons to access a variety of tutorials covering library resources and materials in addition to tutorials on how to become more familiar with different software and technology tools. Some of the more popular tutorials are Excel, Word, Ancestry, and Windows 10.
Northwest Herald Collection | Explore Crystal Lake history through local news, events, and people with the Crystal Lake 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.
NoveList Plus | A comprehensive reading resource for fiction and nonfiction for adult readers.
NoveList K-8 Plus | A comprehensive reading resource for fiction and nonfiction for younger readers. It has a fun and intuitive interface.
Points of View Reference Center | provides rich content that can help students assess and develop persuasive arguments and essays, better understand controversial issues and develop analytical thinking skills.
Regional Business News | provides full-text regional business publications for the United States and Canadian provinces.
Scholastic Go! | Contains three encyclopedia databases: The New Book of Knowledge, The New Book of Popular Science, and Amazing Animals
From home: Click on this remote link. Enter your library card number for the user name; no password is needed.
Scholastic Teachables | offers printable worksheets and resources for every grade, subject, and skill level. From home: Click on this remote link.
Science Online | Presents a broad range of scientific disciplines through extensive essays, videos, diagrams, definitions, biographies, and experiments.
Science Reference Source | provides full text for hundreds of science magazines, journals, reference books and high-quality videos.
Small Buisness Source | offers exclusive full text for many top consumer small business reference books, as well as tools to understand and address a wide variety of small business topics.
Small Engine Repair Reference Center | A full-text database that provides step-by-step maintenance and repair procedures for hundreds of small engine machines and their components.
Value Line | Comprehensive, multifaceted investment research tool used by both individuals and professionals to conduct basic research, formulate sound investment strategies, identify timely opportunities and make smart investment decisions.
Weiss Ratings Medigap Report | A customized guide to help you choose the best, and most affordable, Medicare supplement insurance. Includes ratings of insurance carriers, plans and premiums, based on gender, age and zip code.
World Almanac for Kids Elementary | Features a variety of topics to research, videos, games, projects and much more. This is a great first research resource, perfect for younger elementary students.
World News Digest | Brings together and enhances more than seven decades of news from the renowned Facts On File World News Digest in print.
Help with Research
Primary Source Materials | Literary Analysis | Writing the Paper | Citation Machines
Premium Resources
MPLD subscribes to many databases in all subject areas that are free to cardholders. Databases are perfect resources to use for homework and research papers and include reference works, periodicals, and peer reviewed materials.
Help with Research
McHenry County College Library | Information Literacy Tutorial.
Primary Source Materials
ALA - Using Primary Sources on the Web | finding, evaluating, and citing primary sources.
Find Sounds | finds sound effects on the web. Enter a textual description or approximation to produce a list of sources of the sound which can be downloaded to hear.
Making of America | is a collaborative endeavor among libraries, pricipally the University of Michigan Library and the Cornell University Library. The collection is particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology. The collection currently contains approximately 10,000 books and 50,000 journal articles with 19th century imprints.
NYPL Digital Gallery | More than 700,000 digitized images from the New York Public Library, including historical documents, photographs, art pieces, and maps are featured.
Literary Analysis
Bloom's Literary Reference Online | Examines great writers, important works, memorable characters, and influential movements and events in world literature. MPLD cardholders only.
Internet Public Library IPL2 Literary Criticism | contains critical and biographical websites about authors and their works that can be browsed by author, by title, or by nationality and literary period.
Internet Public Library | Online Literary Criticism Guide.
Writing the Paper
Purdue OWL – online writing lab | writing resources and instructional material and information to assist with many writing projects.
Citation Machines
EasyBib | free bibliography generator.
KnightCite | MLA, APA, & Chicago Style; all formats.
External links may be used as starting points in your research and are not intended to be exhaustive lists of all available external sites related to these topics. The library does not endorse or profit from these websites and external links are provided for use at your own discretion. For suggestions, comments, or to report broken links, you may contact the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Access Anytime, Anywhere
All databases can be accessed within the library, and most of them are available 24/7 from home.
For remote use, you will need a valid MPLD library card; click on the name of the database and follow the instructions for remote access.
Database Vendor Accessibility and Privacy Documents
A B C D-F G H I-J K-M N-P R S-Z
Access Video on Demand: Just for Kids | Features books and stories brought to life, resources for early learners, exploring our world, homework help, TV shows, and all about nature, all from well-known and respected producers like Sesame Street, Reading Rainbow and PBS.
African American History | A comprehensive examination of more than five centuries of the African-American experience. One of Infobase Learning's History databases to assist educators and students in their research needs. Fully revised, cross-searchable, and seamlessly integrated for complete history coverage.
America's News | Explore and stay informed on local and national 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 U.S. Also available remotely 24/7 on any device.
American History Online | Spans more than 500 years of political, military, social, and cultural history covering the American experience. One of Infobase Learning's History databases to assist educators and students in their research needs. Fully revised, cross-searchable, and seamlessly integrated for complete history coverage.
American Indian History Online | 15,000 years of American Indian history and culture. One of Infobase Learning's History databases to assist educators and students in their research needs. F ully revised, cross-searchable, and seamlessly integrated for complete history coverage.
Ancestry Library Edition™ | (IN LIBRARY ONLY) Complete U. S. Census records for 1790-1930, including military records, court, land and probate records, vital and church records, directories, passenger lists and more.
Ancient and Medieval History Online | An extensive exploration of world history, from pre-history through the 1500s. One of Infobase Learning's History databases to assist educators and students in their research needs. Fully revised, cross-searchable, and seamlessly integrated for complete history coverage.
AtoZdatabases | The premier Reference, Research, Marketing, Mailing Lists/Sales Leads, and Job-Search Database.
Auto Repair Source | provides library users with the most accurate, authoritative and up-to-date “do-it-yourself” service and repair information for thousands of domestic and imported cars, SUVs, vans and light trucks.
Biography Reference Center | provides thousands of unique and reliable full-text biographies, including the complete full text of Biography and Biography Today.
Bloom's Literary Reference Online | Examines great writers, important works, memorable characters, and influential movements and events in world literature.
Book Index with Reviews | Provides information on more than 5 million book titles in a wide range of formats, and also contains 800,000 full-text searchable book reviews from sources like Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Booklist and others.
BIR Entertainment | Find music or videos featuring a favorite artist or performer, or a specific genre. Currently information about 450,000 music titles and 200,000 DVD/video titles.
Consumer Reports | Provides ratings, reviews, recommendations and buying advice for cars, appliances, electronics, home and garden, baby products, and more.
Culturegrams | Want to know more about the world’s people? Start here! Learn about each country’s history, customs, government, and general attitudes. Listen to the national anthem, view photos, and try recipes. Read interviews in which people from around the world describe their challenges, ambitions, and everyday.
From home: Click on this remote link.
Encyclopedia Britannica | Full-text articles from the complete encyclopedia. This is the library edition.
From home: Click on this remote link. You'll be asked to enter your library card number.
Facts on File Reference Suite | Brings together six different reference resources: American History Online, Modern World History Online, Ferguson's Career Guidance Center, Science Online, World News Digest, and Issues and Controversies on File.
Ferguson's Career Guidance Center | Provides profiles of nearly 3,400 jobs and 94 industries, invaluable advice on career skills, thousands of resource entries, and more!
FinancialFit | includes a curated collection of personal finance lessons to guide learners in making life’s biggest financial decisions. FinancialFit features a bright, modern design and easy-to-identify content categories. The content is personalized to each user’s interests and assumes no prior financial knowledge.
First Search | All topics. Search for books, music, movies as well as full-text articles from magazines, medical journals, and government publications. Includes 16 different databases. From home: Click on this remote link.
Fold3 Library Edition | provides convenient access to military records, including the stories, photos, and personal documents of the men and women who served.
Gale Business: Plan Builder | Step-by-step online planning tool for starting, managing and optimizing a business or nonprofit. The program’s intuitive dashboard walks users through five areas of exploration to develop a business plan focused on long-term success.
Health Reference Center | Gives clear and comprehensive information on conditions and diseases, health and wellness, mental health, and the human body. Materials contained in this resource is intended for informational purposes only.
Health Source: Consumer Edition | a rich collection of consumer health information provides access to full-text consumer health magazines and reference materials.
Hobbies and Crafts Source | a database of detailed "how to" instructions and creative do-it-yourself ideas that meet the interests of nearly every hobby enthusiast.
Illinois Public Records | 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.
From home: Click on this remote link. You'll be asked to enter your library card number.
Inkie.org | 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.
Issues and Controversies | Explores hundreds of hot topics in politics, government, business, society, education, and popular culture.
LearningExpress Library | An easy-to-use e-learning platform featuring online tutorials, practice tests and e-books to help you achieve your educational and professional goals. In addition to helping you improve your skills in reading, writing, math and basic science
Legal GPS | Learn the steps of how to start your own small business with Legal GPS, an interactive tool to help those who are new to the business world.
Legal Source | is the definitive resource for keeping up to date with current legal issues, studies, thoughts, and trends.
Mango Languages | Includes Spanish, French, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, and Japanese and ESL courses for those learning English and a translation tool for written text. Create a Mango account to keep track of your progress in the lessons.
MasterFILE Complete | offers the highest quality collection of popular full-text magazines, reference books, videos and other sources covering virtually every subject area.
Modern World History Online | Covers the people, places, and events in the broad expanse of history—from the mid-15th century to the present.
Newspapers.com Library Edition | Newspapers.com Library Edition is an extensive online database of 3,000+ historical newspapers from the early 1700s into the early 2000s. Distributed by ProQuest, it contains a diverse blend of well-known regional and local newspapers in Illinois.
From home: Click on this remote link
Niche Academy | An easy-to-use database that allows patrons to access a variety of tutorials covering library resources and materials in addition to tutorials on how to become more familiar with different software and technology tools. Some of the more popular tutorials are Excel, Word, Ancestry, and Windows 10.
Northwest Herald Collection | Explore Crystal Lake history through local news, events, and people with the Crystal Lake 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.
NoveList Plus | A comprehensive reading resource for fiction and nonfiction for adult readers.
NoveList K-8 Plus | A comprehensive reading resource for fiction and nonfiction for younger readers. It has a fun and intuitive interface.
Points of View Reference Center | provides rich content that can help students assess and develop persuasive arguments and essays, better understand controversial issues and develop analytical thinking skills.
Regional Business News | provides full-text regional business publications for the United States and Canadian provinces.
Scholastic Go! | Contains three encyclopedia databases: The New Book of Knowledge, The New Book of Popular Science, and Amazing Animals
From home: Click on this remote link. Enter your library card number for the user name; no password is needed.
Scholastic Teachables | offers printable worksheets and resources for every grade, subject, and skill level. From home: Click on this remote link.
Science Online | Presents a broad range of scientific disciplines through extensive essays, videos, diagrams, definitions, biographies, and experiments.
Science Reference Source | provides full text for hundreds of science magazines, journals, reference books and high-quality videos.
Small Business Source | offers exclusive full text for many top consumer small business reference books, as well as tools to understand and address a wide variety of small business topics.
Small Engine Repair Reference Center | A full-text database that provides step-by-step maintenance and repair procedures for hundreds of small engine machines and their components.
Value Line | Comprehensive, multifaceted investment research tool used by both individuals and professionals to conduct basic research, formulate sound investment strategies, identify timely opportunities and make smart investment decisions.
Weiss Ratings Medigap Report | A customized guide to help you choose the best, and most affordable, Medicare supplement insurance. Includes ratings of insurance carriers, plans and premiums, based on gender, age and zip code.
World Almanac for Kids Elementary | Features a variety of topics to research, videos, games, projects and much more. This is a great first research resource, perfect for younger elementary students.
World News Digest | Brings together and enhances more than seven decades of news from the renowned Facts On File World News Digest in print.
All databases can be accessed within the library, and most can be used from home 24/7.
For remote use, you will need a valid MPLD library card; click on the name of the database and enter your library card number.
Database Vendor Accessibility and Privacy Documents
Search by Alphabetical Listing of all Databases
Search by Subject:
Arts & Music
Biography & Genealogy
Books & Literature
Business & Investing
Careers & Employment
Cars & Consumer Information
Demographics - Business, Residential and Phone Numbers
Encyclopedias & Almanacs
Health & Wellness
History & Geography
Languages
Learning Resources
Magazines & Newspapers
Science & Technology
Social Issues
Arts & Music
BIR Entertainment | Find music or videos featuring a favorite artist or performer, or a specific genre. Currently information about 450,000 music titles and 200,000 DVD/video titles.
Issues and Controversies | Explores hundreds of hot topics in politics, government, business, society, education, and popular culture.
Search the McHenry Public Library Catalog.
Search Overdrive for eBooks and Audiobooks.
Biography & Genealogy
American History Online | Spans more than 500 years of political, military, social, and cultural history covering the American experience. One of Infobase Learning's History databases to assist educators and students in their research needs. Fully revised, cross-searchable, and seamlessly integrated for complete history coverage.
Ancestry.com Library Edition™ | (IN LIBRARY ONLY) Complete U. S. Census records for 1790-1940, including military records, court, land and probate records, vital and church records, directories, passenger lists and more.
Biography Reference Center | provides thousands of unique and reliable full-text biographies, including the complete full text of Biography and Biography Today.
Bloom's Literary Reference Online | Examines great writers, important works, memorable characters, and influential movements and events in world literature.
Fold3 Library Edition | provides convenient access to military records, including the stories, photos, and personal documents of the men and women who served.
Modern World History Online | People, places, and events in the broad expanse of history—from the mid-15th century to the present.
Search the McHenry Public Library Catalog.
Search Overdrive for eBooks and Audiobooks.
Books & Literature
Book Index with Reviews | Provides information on more than 5 million book titles in a wide range of formats, and also contains 800,000 full-text searchable book reviews from sources like Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Booklist and others.
Bloom's Literary Reference Online | Examines great writers, important works, memorable characters, and influential movements and events in world literature.
First Search | All topics. Search for books, music, movies as well as full-text articles from magazines, medical journals, and government publications. Includes 16 different databases. From home: Click on this remote link.
Inkie.org | 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.
NoveList K-8 Plus | A comprehensive reading resource for fiction and nonfiction with a fun and intuitive interface for younger readers.
NoveList Plus | A comprehensive reading resource for adult readers for fiction and nonfiction.
Search the McHenry Public Library Catalog.
Search Overdrive for eBooks and Audiobooks.
Business & Investing
AtoZdatabases | The premier reference, research, marketing, mailing lists/sales leads, and job search resource.
Business Source Elite | encompasses a selection of business disciplines, offering access to 492 active full-text journals, along with abstracted and indexed journals.
FinancialFit | includes a curated collection of personal finance lessons to guide learners in making life’s biggest financial decisions. FinancialFit features a bright, modern design and easy-to-identify content categories. The content is personalized to each user’s interests and assumes no prior financial knowledge.
Gale Business: Plan Builder | Step-by-step online planning tool for starting, managing and optimizing a business or nonprofit. The program’s intuitive dashboard walks users through five areas of exploration to develop a business plan focused on long-term success.
Illinois Public Records | Public records for Chicago area real estate transactions, mortgages, foreclosures. Sort by name, city, zip code. From home: Click on this remote link.
Issues and Controversies | Explores hundreds of hot topics in politics, government, business, society, education, and popular culture.
Legal GPS | Learn the steps of how to start your own small business with Legal GPS, an interactive tool to help those who are new to the business world.
Legal Source | is the definitive resource for keeping up to date with current legal issues, studies, thoughts, and trends.
Small Business Source | offers exclusive full text for many top consumer small business reference books, as well as tools to understand and address a wide variety of small business topics.
Value Line | Comprehensive, investment research tool used by individuals and professionals to conduct basic research, formulate investment strategies, identify opportunities and make investment decisions.
Recommended Sites- Business
Biznar: Deep Web Business Search | scans all kinds of resources, including periodicals, government resources, news sources, and social networks.
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Careers & Employment
AtoZdatabases | The premier reference, research, marketing, mailing lists/sales leads, and job search resource.
Ferguson's Career Guidance Center | Provides profiles of nearly 3,400 jobs and 94 industries, invaluable advice on career skills, thousands of resource entries, and more!
Inkie.org | 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.
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Car & Consumer Information
Auto Repair Source | provides library users with the most accurate, authoritative and up-to-date “do-it-yourself” service and repair information for thousands of domestic and imported cars, SUVs, vans and light trucks.
Consumer Reports | Provides ratings, reviews, recommendations and buying advice for cars, appliances, electronics, home and garden, baby products, and more.
Small Engine Repair Reference Center | Step-by-step maintenance and repair procedures for hundreds of small engine machines and their components
Weiss Ratings Medigap Report | A customized guide to help you choose the best, and most affordable, Medicare supplement insurance. Includes ratings of insurance carriers, plans and premiums, based on gender, age and zip code.
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Demographics -- Business, Residential, Phone and Demographic Data
AtoZdatabases | The premier reference, research, marketing, mailing lists/sales leads, and job search resource.
Regional Business News | provides full-text regional business publications for the United States and Canadian provinces.
Encyclopedias & Almanacs
Access Video on Demand: Just for Kids | Features books and stories brought to life, resources for early learners, exploring our world, homework help, TV shows, and all about nature, all from well-known and respected producers like Sesame Street, Reading Rainbow and PBS.
Culturegrams | Want to know more about the world’s people? Start here! Learn about each country’s history, customs, government, and general attitudes. Listen to the national anthem, view photos, and try recipes. Read interviews in which people from around the world describe their challenges, ambitions, and everyday. From home: Click on this remote link.
Encyclopedia Britannica | Full-text articles from the complete encyclopedia. This is the library edition. From home: Click on this remote link.
Facts on File Reference Suite | Brings together six different reference resources: American History Online, Modern World History Online, Ferguson's Career Guidance Center, Science Online, World News Digest, and Issues and Controversies on File
Issues and Controversies | Explores hundreds of hot topics in politics, government, business, society, education, and popular culture.
Scholastic Go! | Contains three encyclopedia databases: The New Book of Knowledge, The New Book of Popular Science, and Amazing Animals. From home: Click on this remote link . Enter your library card number for the user name; no password is needed.
Science Online | Presents a broad range of scientific disciplines through extensive essays, videos, diagrams, definitions, biographies, and experiments.
World Almanac for Kids Elementary | Features a variety of topics to research, videos, games, projects and much more. This is a great first research resource, perfect for younger elementary students.
World News Digest | Brings together and enhances more than seven decades of news from the renowned Facts On File World News Digest in print.
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Health & Wellness
Materials contained in these resources are intended for informational purposes only.
First Search | All topics. Search for books, music, movies as well as full-text articles from magazines, medical journals, and government publications. Includes 16 different databases. From home: Click on this remote link.
Health Reference Center | Gives clear and comprehensive information on conditions and diseases, health and wellness, mental health, and the human body.
Health Source: Consumer Edition | a rich collection of consumer health information provides access to full-text consumer health magazines and reference materials.
Issues and Controversies | Explores hundreds of hot topics in politics, government, business, society, education, and popular culture.
Weiss Ratings Medigap Report | A customized guide to help you choose the best, and most affordable, Medicare supplement insurance. Includes ratings of insurance carriers, plans and premiums, based on gender, age and zip code.
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History & Geography
Culturegrams | Learn about each country’s history, customs, government, and general attitudes. Listen to the national anthem, view photos, and try recipes. Read interviews in which people from around the world describe their challenges, ambitions, and everyday lives. From home: Click on this remote link.
History Databases from Infobase Learning -- Assists educators and students in their research needs. Fully revised, cross-searchable, citable and seamlessly integrated for complete history coverage:
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African American History | A comprehensive examination of more than five centuries of the African-American experience.
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American History Online | Spans more than 500 years of political, military, social, and cultural history covering the American experience.
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American Indian History Online | 15,000 years of American Indian history and culture.
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Ancient and Medieval History Online | An extensive exploration of world history, from pre-history through the 1500s.
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Modern World History Online | Covers the people, places, and events in the broad expanse of history—from the mid-15th century to the present.
World News Digest | Brings together and enhances more than seven decades of news from the renowned Facts On File World News Digest in print.
Recommended Websites - History
Making of America | is a collaborative endeavor among libraries, pricipally the University of Michigan Library and the Cornell University Library. The collection is particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology. The collection currently contains approximately 10,000 books and 50,000 journal articles with 19th century imprints.
NYPL Digital Gallery | More than 700,000 digitized images from the New York Public Library, including historical documents, photographs, art pieces, and maps are featured.
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Languages
Mango Languages| Includes Spanish, French, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, and Japanese and ESL courses for those learning English and a translation tool for written text. Create a Mango account to keep track of your progress in the lessons.
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Learning Resources
Explora | a modern and efficient research experience designed specifically for schools and public libraries.
Hobbies and Crafts Source | a database of detailed "how to" instructions and creative do-it-yourself ideas that meet the interests of nearly every hobby enthusiast.
LearningExpress Library | An easy-to-use e-learning platform featuring online tutorials, practice tests and e-books to help you achieve your educational and professional goals. In addition to helping you improve your skills in reading, writing, math and basic science
Niche Academy | An easy-to-use database that allows patrons to access a variety of tutorials covering library resources and materials in addition to tutorials on how to become more familiar with different software and technology tools. Some of the more popular tutorials are Excel, Word, Ancestry, and Windows 10.
Scholastic Teachables | offers printable worksheets and resources for every grade, subject, and skill level. From home: Click on this remote link.
Recommended Websites - Learning
GCFLearnFree.org | the GCFLearnFree.org program has helped millions around the world learn the essential skills they need to live and work in the 21st century. From Microsoft Office and email to reading, math, and more, GCFLearnFree.org offers more than 180 topics, including more than 2,000 lessons, 800+ videos, and 55+ interactives and games, completely free.
Check the Events Calendar for related programs.
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Magazines & Newspapers
The McHenry Public Library subscribes to approximately 400 magazines and newspapers in the Adult and Young People Services areas combined. Search our Online Catalog to find an individual title. Choose "Advanced Search", then "Title” from the drop-down menu. Type the name of the periodical in the search field and choose "Magazine or Journal" from the Format menu. Click Search
Chicago Sun-Times | 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.
First Search | All topics. Search for books, music, movies as well as full-text articles from magazines, medical journals, and government publications. Includes 16 different databases. From home: Click on this remote link.
Magazines on OverDrive | Choose from thousands of magazines, many of them popular, through OverDrive or OverDrive's easy-to-use Libby app. Online magazines are available FREE to McHenry Public Library cardholders. Perfect for tablet, iPad, computer or Wi-Fi enabled devices. Download some and take them on vacation or just read at your leisure. After you click on the link to the left, go to Collections, then Magazines.
MasterFILE Complete | offers the highest quality collection of popular full-text magazines, reference books, videos and other sources covering virtually every subject area.
Newsbank | Explore and stay informed on local and national 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 U.S. Also available remotely 24/7 on any device.
Newspapers.com Library Edition | Newspapers.com Library Edition is an extensive online database of 3,000+ historical newspapers from the early 1700s into the early 2000s. Distributed by ProQuest, it contains a diverse blend of well-known regional and local newspapers in Illinois. From home: Click on this remote link
Northwest Herald Collection | Explore McHenry County history through local news, events, and people with the Northwest Herald 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.
World News Digest | All major political, social, and economic events since November 1940.
Science & Technology
AGRICOLA | contains bibliographic records from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Library, AGRICOLA provides millions of citations relating to the field of agriculture.
First Search | Research on all topics. Search for books, music, movies as well as full-text articles from magazines, medical journals, and government publications. Includes 16 different databases. From home: Click on this remote link.
Issues and Controversies | Explores hundreds of hot topics in politics, government, business, society, education, and popular culture.
Science Online | Presents a broad range of scientific disciplines through extensive essays, videos, diagrams, definitions, biographies, and experiments.
Science Reference Source | provides full text for hundreds of science magazines, journals, reference books and high-quality videos.
Small Engine Repair Reference Center | A full-text database that provides step-by-step maintenance and repair procedures for hundreds of small engine machines and their components.
Recommended Sites - Science Websites
BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine | sponsored by the Bielefeld University Library in Germany, selected resources that meet academic quality standards including more than 30 million documents in several languages.
Directory of Open Access Journals | A database searchable by keywords, offers access to full-text articles from online scholarly publications covering all subjects, favoring research and scientific publications.
Plants Database | Sponsored by the US Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, this database covers anything to do with plants. Search by common or scientific name, characteristics or region.
Scitation | Scitation offers online access to a robust collection of close to 1 million articles from leading physical sciences publications including journals, conference proceedings, standards, and magazines published by AIP Publishing and AIPP's publishing partners.
World Wide Science | This database is the product of an alliance among international scientific institutions and is operated by the US Department of Energy. Includes conference papers, articles, and other documents not readily found on the surface web.
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Social Issues
Issues and Controversies | Explores hundreds of hot topics in politics, government, business, society, education, and popular culture.
Points of View Reference Center | provides rich content that can help students assess and develop persuasive arguments and essays, better understand controversial issues and develop analytical thinking skills.
World News Digest | Brings together and enhances more than seven decades of news from the renowned Facts On File World News Digest in print
Recommended Sites - Social Issues
Social Science Research Network | Scholarly abstracts and full text papers in subject areas such as accounting and other business fields, music, philosophy, literature, and politics.
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