Arts & Literature

Literary Reference Center

Literary Reference Center is a rich full-text literary database covering all genres and timeframes. It includes thousands of synopses, critical essays, book reviews, literary journals and author biographies, plus full-text classic novels, short stories and poems. 

Business & Jobs

Business Source Premier

The industry's most widely used business research database, Business Source Premier features full text and searchable cited references for top journals covering a variety of business disciplines.

Job Seekers Toolkit

Created by Bellwood Public Library staff. The resources on this page are curated to help you create or update your resume, write a cover letter, find help with your job search, and ultimately find the best job for you.

Reference Solutions

Search for US Businesses, US Standard White Pages in the directories.

Use US Jobs & Internships, powereed by indeed.com, to look for new oportunities.  

Use Historical Businesses to find out about past performance of businesses back to 2003.

Small Business Reference Center

Small Business Reference Center offers exclusive full text for many top consumer small business reference books, as well as tools to address many small business topics. It includes business videos, a help and advice section and details on how to create business plans.

ZipRecruiter

Unique Benefits of ZipRecruiter

  1. We currently work with more than 900 Universities and over 1000 Libraries, providing Free Career Development content for their students
  2. 80% of Jobs on ZipRecruiter cannot be found on other Job sites. 
  3. Our site offers 16 million +jobs for active job seekers and has the #1 rated Job Seeker App on iPhone & Android

Consumer & Auto

Auto Repair Source

Powered by the automotive experts at MOTOR, Auto Repair Source provides the most accurate, authoritative and up-to-date service and repair information for thousands of domestic and imported vehicles. All content comes from the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) and includes step-by-step repair information, diagrams, maintenance schedules, parts and labor estimates, service bulletins and recalls.

Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports.org gives unbiased reviews, information and advice on consumer products and services.

Do It Yourself

Hobbies & Crafts Reference Center

This database offers detailed "how-to" instructions and creative ideas to meet the interests of virtually every hobby enthusiast. Full text is provided from leading hobby and craft magazines.

eBooks, eAudiobooks & eMovies

Biblioboard

Through a service provided by RAILS, every library in Illinois has access to free, simultaneous use e-books via the BiblioBoard Library. Select "BiblioBoard Library of Illinois" for instant access to their collection.

hoopla digital

*** Starting December 10, 2019, hoopla will require your Bellwood Public Library card's PIN to access the service.  For help on updating your hoopla app, click here for PDF iconAndroid or PDF iconiOS devices.

You can stream titles instantly through your desktop browser or our mobile app. Titles are automatically returned and removed from your device at the end of the lending period.

If you use the mobile app (App StoreGoogle PlayAmazon), you can also download titles to your device for offline playback later, where Wi-Fi may be unavailable.   Check out up to 8 items a month.

Hoopla en Español

Kanopy

Offering free access to thousands of movies streaming on this video platform. 

All Kanopy Kids content is currently unlimited. 

Libby

Check out up to 20 ebooks, audiobooks or movies at a time. 

Health & Wellness

Consumer Health Complete

Valuable Full-Text Consumer Health Information 

Consumer Health Complete offers a unique search interface that organizes results by source type so users can easily find the content they're looking for. Source types include journals, magazines, reference books, encyclopedias, pamphlets, images and videos.

Medline

This database provides full-text for many of the most-used biomedical and health journals indexed in MEDLINE. Many journals are available with no embargo, allowing doctors, nurses, health professionals and researchers to access to the information as soon as it is published.

History & Genealogy

Bellwood Digital Archive

  • Read local newspapers Proviso Star Progress (1937-1950) Star Sentinel (1956-1997) Proviso Star Sentinel (1975-1981) and West Proviso Herald (1978-1982). 
  • See the yearbooks of Proviso West High School (1961-2017).
  • Read about the early history in "Bellwood History 1900-1976" or the program for Bellwood's 50th anniversary, "The Golden Jubilee"

HeritageHub

Explore your family history with the premier collection of U.S. obituaries and death notices for in-depth genealogical research from 1704 - today. HeritageHub helps you easily identify relatives, uncover new information and potentially unknown family members. Includes deep coverage from all 50 states, hard-to-find content from the mid 1900's, and original obituary images. Access is available 24/7.

History Reference Center

This is a comprehensive full text history reference database designed for secondary schools, public libraries, junior/community colleges, and undergraduate research. History Refernce Center includes full text for more than 1,620 reference books, encyclopedias and non-fiction books.

K-12 Student Resources

ABCMouse.com

Young learners, ages 2 and up, can play and learn at the library with interactive books, educational games, puzzles and other activities.

abcmouse.com

EXPLORA - Primary School

Explora Primary is a database for young students.

  • Simple search that quickly delivers relevant results
  • Easy-to-browse categories organized by popular topic
  • Topic overviews that provide students with a starting point for research
  • Colorful, mobile-friendly design with feature areas that provide context to student

Middle Search Plus

Designed for middle school libraries, Middle Search Plus is a full-text database providing popular middle school magazines and reference books. Covering subjects such as history, current events, science and sports, it also includes thousands of biographies and primary source documents, plus over a million photos, maps and flags.

NoveList K-8 Plus

NoveList K-8 Plus is a comprehensive reading resource for fiction and nonfiction. With a fun and intuitive interface, and extensive proprietary content, NoveList K-8 Plus will help you integrate reading across the curriculum and support young readers. 

Primary Search

Designed for elementary school libraries, Primary Search is a full-text database providing popular children’s magazines, easy-to-read encyclopedic entries and a vast image collection. Students can learn about a variety of topics, including endangered species, famous musicians, fitness and space exploration.

Wolfram|Alpha

This wide-ranging ready reference tool provides access to a phenomenal amount of data and information through simple factual searches.

World Book - Early World of Learning

The Early World of Learning was created for preschoolers and children in the early elementary grades. Developed with the help of experts in early childhood education, the site provides playful and interactive features through a visual encyclopedia, colorful games, a Welcome To Reading feature, and a plethora of videos, photos, and activities.

Access World Book Early World of Learning

World Book Kids

Make learning more fun! World Book Kids was developed especially for younger users with a wealth of engaging games, science projects, and activities. It features an intuitive user interface, simple navigation and browsing capabilities, and thousands of easy-to-read articles packed with stunning illustrations, videos, and interactive maps.

Access World Book Kids

World Book Student

Tailored for elementary and middle school users, World Book Student is a comprehensive site that includes a collection of content, features, and tools specifically developed to make online knowledge accessible and easy to integrate into school assignments. The site features the entire World Book Encyclopedia with high-interest content written at an age-appropriate level to engage students in learning. Student is loaded with practical features to help users develop their research skills and enhance their projects.

Access World Book Student

Newspapers and Magazines

Bellwood Newspapers & Yearbooks

This collection includes:

Proviso West High School Yearbooks, "The Mural," (1961-2017) 
Newspapers Covering Bellwood: The Star Progress (1937-1956), Star Sentinel (1956-1997), West Proviso Herald (1978-1982)
Village History Titles: Bellwood's Golden Jubilee program booklet celebrating 1900-1950, Bellwood History: 1900-1975 (1975)

Originals are available for viewing at the library. No circulations of local history materials is allowed. 

More years of the newspapers are coming soon!

Flipster Digital Magazines

Flipster, the digital newsstand, offers magazines across all of your favorite devices. With access to the top magazines combined with an easy to use interface, Flipster offers users a unique reading experience that can be enjoyed anytime, anywhere.

PressReader

Digital newsstand featuring 7000+ of the world's most popular newspapers & magazines.

Instructions:

  • To login, choose "Library or Group"
  • Enter "Bellwood Public Library" and select our listing
  • Sign in using OpenAthens
  • Enter your Bellwood Library card number and PIN

Online Classes & Learning

Gale Courses

Gale Courses offers instructor-led online courses for some of the most requested adult education topics. Courses are self-paced and led by a real instructor who can give feedback, answer questions, and offer personalized guidance. The quality of instruction is similar to online courses offered by an accredited college, with most instructors having advanced degrees and extensive teaching experience in a university setting.

GCF Global Classroom

Video classes on many topics including technology, work life, core skills and reading & math.  Try one today!

LearningExpress Library

LearningExpress Library supports those looking to improve core academic skills, pass the GED, prepare for college, join the military, obtain occupational certification, find a job, change careers, become a U.S. citizen and much more.

Reference & Research

Academic Search Premier

Academic Search Premier is a leading multidisciplinary research database. It provides acclaimed full-text journals, magazines and other valuable resources.

MasterFile Complete

Full-text articles from 1,700 periodicals, 500 reference books, and 100,000 primary source documents.

MasterfileComplete includes reference, business, health, education, science, and multicultural issues and an image collection of photos, maps, and flags.

Novelist Plus

This is a popular readers’ advisory service that helps readers find fiction and nonfiction books. It includes reviews, book covers, booklists, links to author web pages & much more!

Points of View Reference Center

Containing resources that present multiple sides of an issue, this database provides rich content that can help students assess and develop persuasive arguments and essays, better understand controversial issues and develop analytical thinking skills.

Wolfram|Alpha

This wide-ranging ready reference tool provides access to a phenomenal amount of data and information through simple factual searches.

World Book Advanced

A powerful reference tool designed to meet the research needs of users at the high school level and above, World Book Advanced is chock-full of facts and features to help users conduct research projects. The site features the entire World Book Encyclopedia, an atlas, a dictionary, world newspapers, and local and country research guides. Advanced integrates all primary and secondary source databases and up to 18 different content types in a single search.

 

Access World Book Advanced

Science & Technology

Science Reference Center

Science Reference Center is a full-text database that covers earth science, life science, technology, health and other popular topics discussed by today's science researchers.

Designed specifically for junior and senior high schools, Science Reference Center is an excellent source of reliable information on life sciences, physical sciences, mathematics, technology and more.