If you ever had to thumb through a pile of old newspapers to find an article you meant to read or save, you know how frustrating it can be.  What you thought was in yesterday’s State newspaper was actually three days ago, or maybe it was in a different paper altogether.

We have a great solution for you.  Search online through the State Library and get full-text articles for free!  State agency employees with a State Library card have access to the text of over 800 newspapers around the country in the NewsBank database.  Included are nine South Carolina papers:  Anderson Independent-Mail, Bluffton Today, Greenville News, (Rock Hill) Herald, (Spartanburg) Herald-Journal, Newberry Observer, The State (Columbia), Sun News (Myrtle Beach), and Union Daily Times.    You can browse newspapers by date or search for relevant terms in a range of dates.  The years covered varies with each paper, with The State going back the farthest, to December 1987.  Start your search by going to Online Resources, then choose NewsBank: America’s Newspapers.

The (Charleston) Post and Courier is also available online, in another database called  Custom Newspapers.  Custom Newspapers also includes over 100 other newspapers from around the US and the world.

Not a state employee?  Residents of South Carolina have access to Custom Newspapers and to The State and Greenville News on NewsBank through the State Library’s DISCUS program.  Check the website of your local public library for information on how to access the DISCUS databases.  

If you’re having trouble using any of our online resources or would like additional information, call the Information Desk at (803) 734-8026, email reference@statelibrary.sc.gov  or click on Ask a Librarian for live chat.