After more than two years of being forced to adjust how we shop, study, and conduct business, we have become accustomed to carrying out our transactions virtually. I suspect that many of you have found that you enjoy the convenience of doing so and have no plans of stopping. Others can’t wait to get back to enjoying in-person events. The Library is happy to serve members from both mindsets. This summer, we will be adding back more in-person events to our program lineup while still maintaining many of the fun and interesting virtual programs that sustained us during the pandemic. For more details, click here to view our programming guide.
The improving conditions have prompted some organizations to discontinue the expanded remote access they generously offered during the pandemic. Candid, the organization that brings us the Foundation Directory Online (FDO) Professional and Essential Databases, is one of these. For those you who are unfamiliar with Foundation Directory Online, it is a searchable database of U.S. Foundations that offer grants to nonprofit organizations. For more details, visit The Library’s Grants Information page.
Prior to the pandemic, both the East Shore Area and the Elizabethville Area Libraries were serving as Grant Centers for the Dauphin County area. Each offered free, in-person access to the FDO Professional database. When the pandemic caused libraries to close, Candid began providing free online access to its FDO Essentials Database to everyone – no membership or library visit required. As libraries began to reopen, Candid stepped back that free access by offering once-monthly, remote 24-hour passes to its FDO Essentials Database instead. As of May 31, 2022, access via these passes was also curtailed.
Starting in June, anyone in the Dauphin County area wishing to use this valuable resource will, once again, need to either make in-person visits to the Grant Center at the East Shore Area Library or visit our new Grant Center at the McCormick Riverfront Library. At both locations, visitors will be granted free access to the more comprehensive Foundation Directory Online Professional database. Please note that access via the Elizabethville Area Library is no longer being offered. To find Funding Information Network locations outside of the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area, visit https://candid.org/find-us.
For some, this will be unwelcome news. It is indicative of the times, however, and does signal, to me anyway, that conditions are slowly returning to how they used to be. Thankfully, most of The Library’s other expanded remote services will continue, making now a great time to explore them. There you will find wonderful resources like Newspapers.com, NoveList Plus, and Gale LegalForms.
View The Library’s databases >
Expanded collections of eBooks can be found by visiting the eBooks, eAudiobooks webpage at https://www.dcls.org/ebooks. Resources such as Gale eBooks and EBSCO eBooks offer hassle-free access – anytime, anywhere. To use, just enter your library card number and PIN where prompted.
Whether you are ready to make in-person visits or not, I invite you to make The Library (or The Library’s website) one of the destinations you frequent often this summer.